I hope everyone had a good Labor Day. I missed the blog posting last week. Things got a little busy and I wasn’t able to get something written in time. I had my little scout with me again this past Monday. We were looking for white mold in peanuts and looking at some cotton. Della is closer to the ground so she got the pull the peanuts back so we could look down in the canopy for white mold. Della wanted to know how she was supposed to eat cotton. I told her that we use cotton to make our clothes. She sniffed an open cotton boll and said ‘I can smell the clothes daddy”. Here is what we have for this week
Peanuts: So far May peanuts are tracking right on time. We do need some heat to move these peanuts. Cloudy rainy weather won’t get that done. As of right now, the only peanuts that I know of that have been dug are Mid to Late April peanuts. They went a good bit longer but they had a cold snap early on that really slowed them down. Each person’s scenario is different so when you bring some peanuts to check, tell me about what you’re thinking and we can create a plan that will fit your operation. I’ve been seeing more late leafspot and hits of white mold. If you are within 3 weeks of harvest and have good disease control, then you’re in luck. You should be able to cross the finish line without having to apply any more fungicides. However, if you’re within 3 weeks of digging and you have disease throughout your fields, then you may want to think about another treatment to get you to the finish line. Leafspot 2-3 weeks out is a judgment call and could be beneficial giving the circumstance. White mold 2-3 weeks out, I would look hard at it. If you’ve sprayed recently and had it shut down, you may make it. If it’s actively moving through the field I would hit it with a tebuconazole/chlorothalonil, or Provost Silver, or Fontelis. Those fungicides fall within the 2 weeks harvest interval.
Cotton: I’m seeing more and more bolls opening up and cotton starting to senesce. Before long it will be time to defoliate. the UGA 3-way is still a go-to for cotton defoliation; Ethephon, Thidiazuron, Tribufos. I do think we may need to look at the higher rates of Thidiazuron and Ginstar to help with the juvenile growth and to help with any regrowth. We put a lot of fertilizer out this year and some cotton has responded late as the soil has dried out so we need something to combat the flush some of us are seeing.
Armyworms: Hayfields everywhere are being tormented with armyworms. Here is what I’d do depending on my harvest.
- No Harvest Interval
- Mustang Maxx – Low Residual (week)
- Tombstone- Low Residual (week)
- Prevathon-High Residual (3 weeks)
- 7 day Harvest Interval
- Besiege – High Residual (3 weeks)
- Intrepid – Med Residual (2 weeks)
- Warrior II – Low Residual (week)