Cotton: Boll rot is in every field I go into. We currently have 4 types across the southern part of the state. Colletotrichum and Diplodia boll rot seem most common while bacterial boll rot and Phytophthora boll rot are the least common. Key takeaways from boll rot:
- Lower bolls are affected first because of their age
- Humidity in the canopy
- Recent rainfall has caused a sudden onset
- No fungicide treatment to control it
Peanuts: I started peanut maturity checks this week. So far the early planted peanuts are tracking later while the mid-April-May peanuts seem to be tracking on time. White mold is lighting up fields so now it’s not the time to stop with your fungicides. Peanut rust was found in our UGA trials but I haven’t seen it in any commercial fields. Weather is perfect for it but timely fungicides will help keep it at bay. Chlorothalonil is active against rust.
