BEN MCKNIGHT
TEXAS
As of June 9, rainfall across much of Texas in late May and early June have helped to ease very dry conditions across much of the state. Additional precipitation seems to be in the extended weather forecast for many parts of South, Central, and East Texas, which will continue to benefit soil moisture conditions and dryland growers. Hopefully with each passing week, we continue to see lighter shades of color on the drought monitor map as the growing season continues to progress.
Recent pest pressure on cotton in the Lower Rio Grande Valley with developing squares and bolls has included cotton fleahoppers, verde plant bugs, and tarnished plant bugs. Scouting for these pests and making timely applications based on population threshold will be essential for protecting developing fruiting positions. The Coastal Bend region received a large amount of rainfall in the past few weeks, leaving many fields inundated and resulting in quite a few fields with yellowing cotton plants. As inundated conditions have eased, plants have resumed normal growth and development, and yellowing symptoms have begun to dissipate. The crop maturity in this region is extremely variable with some fields just beginning to square and some in peak bloom.
The Upper Gulf Coast has received good rainfall over much of the region, in some cases inundating fields here also. Weed flushes have been common in this region as well as the Blackland Prairies following recent rainfall. In addition to active and timely scouting for insect pests, scouting for weed pressure following rainfall events will aid in getting a timely postemergence application over newly emerged weeds. With high temperatures and high humidity, weed pests like Palmer amaranth and tall waterhemp can grow as much as one inch per day, quickly getting too large to consistently control with some products including glufosinate. ∆
BEN MCKNIGHT
TEXAS