By Dr. Kemerait
This morning in T-town; already 77F with high humidity. Not to be a “broken record” (not sure the new generation even knows what I mean by that. There are some people who want to go back to the days of vinyl, I do not. I do miss the album covers.), however, the convergence of plant growth and development, onset of flowering/blooming/pod set/boll set in peanuts and cotton and soybeans coupled with warm humid nights and hot humid days + sporadic rainfall all add up to clear and present danger from fungal diseases. Not every peanut, cotton, or corn grower needs to use the same fungicide program. But every peanut, cotton, or corn grower in Georgia would make a mistake now if he or she ignored the real threat now and need to have some fungicide program ready.
Cliff Notes (again I date myself, my generations “AI”)
1. We have not found soybean rust in Georgia, but we do not have a sentinel plot program this year. I don’t know of any yet reported anywhere.
2. It is time for areolate mildew in cotton. Areolate mildew is well-established in at least one field of cotton in Colquitt County. With our current conditions (high humidity, thick leaf canopy, and sporadic rains) this disease will ignite. Fungicides are recommended here to protect yield.
In the past we are able to use azoxystrobin, but we have confirmed fungicide resistances now.
The safest bet is Priaxor or Miravis Top.
Best fungicide timing is 3rd week of bloom or later (cotton in Jeremy’s pictures is likely 4-5 week of bloom) AND when found when scouting. If cotton is 3rd week of bloom and not scouted, consider to spray or not based upon favorable conditions
Please remember the field day in Plains this Wednesday (5 August) and shade tree meeting in Bulloch Co on 7 Aug and a field day in Mudville on 12 Aug.
