We all know that it is important to take care of soil borne insect pests and thrips early in the season to give cotton a good start. However, I feel like many growers have forgotten what they learned in high school when they participated in a UGA Extension Cotton Scout School. Upcoming sessions are June 1st from 9:00 AM-12:30 PM at the Tifton Campus
Conference Center, call Kelley Schauberger @ 229-386-3374, or June 9th from 9:00 AM-12:30 PM at the Southeast Research and Education Center Midville GA, call Peyton Sapp (706) 554-2119
I bring this up because over the last several years I feel we have lost yield do to increasing pressure from Tarnished Plant Bugs (TPB). Many growers do not scout early enough to catch the damage caused by these insects. Plant bugs are sporadic but from the numbers we have seen in strawberries and wheat across middle Georgia I feel like they may be a big problem as cotton begins squaring.
They are not always easy to see in the field so sweep nets are a good way to monitor numbers early. monitoring should begin early as small pinhead squares become visible. This is usually around the 10th node. We want to make sure that we retain at least 80% of these first position squares. If you don’t have a net you can exam first position squares in the top of the plant. Make sure that squares are health and green. If they look like the square below they have likely been fed on by TPB.
Later in the season, drop cloths are the best method for monitoring this pest because they detect immature bugs better than nets and black cloths are better than white. It is best to scout all fields but certainly schout your earliest planted fields, and fields near other crops. I have seen the worse damage happen early but plant bugs can feed on larger squares causing damage as well. You can find thresholds in the UGA Cotton Production Guide or you can contact your county agent
My last post was stolen from Prostko so I better admit that much of this info came from Phillip Roberts, UGA Cotton Entomologist, and photos from bugwood.org.
