Cotton: Good news is that the whitefly population is still low. The semi-good news is that the rain showers this week will help keep the spider mite and aphid populations in check. We are seeing more and more plant bugs. Ideally, we look to control plant bugs when we find 8 plant bugs per 100 net sweeps or we start to drop below 80% square retention. Those are the points where it is economically feasible to spray for plant bugs. Also, it’s not a good idea to blanket spray for plant bugs because the pesticides used to control plant bugs also take out our beneficial insects, which help take out aphids, spider mites, and most importantly, corn earworms. Most are well into bloom, so stink bugs do rise as a concern, but the fields I’ve been in are pretty clean so far. Pix is a tough call so far. With these high temperatures and dry weather, we may need to be a little conservative with our rates, but in vigorous varieties, we may need to be a little more aggressive. The key point, we don’t want a lot of Pix on stressed plants.
Peanuts: I’ve seen more and more lesser cornstalk borers pop up this week. The rain showers we got this week may slow them down and may have bought you a few days if you need to spray, but the lessers are still there. The rain will make it harder to scout because it washed away all of the silk tubes. Not every field will need to be treated with an insecticide. Spraying every field because lessers “might” be present is not a good idea. We do not need to use insecticides to prevent LCB infestations. When the pest reaches the threshold, we can treat it, kill it, and move on. The two insecticides recommended for lesser cornstalk borer management in peanuts are chlorantraniliprole (Vantacor/Prevathon) and novaluron (Diamond). Vantacor is the “new” Prevathon, and the rates are way different. Vantacor has a 2fl/oz. rate where Prevathon has a 16fl/oz. rate. Both offer great residuals.
