Showing posts with label thrips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thrips. Show all posts

Monday, June 23, 2014

Cotton Insect and Pest Contols

We were cruising along last week with cotton insects kinda quiet. Thrips control was winding down on our latest planted cotton. The most prevalent observation was the white margined borrower bug, which could be found in most all fields. They were on cotton with 3 or 4 true leaves up to cotton knee high and squaring.

This week things have changed dramatically. Not to say every field has insect problems. However, in some fields, consultants are finding some level of plant bugs, spider mites, aphids and a few stink bugs. Generally, the older the cotton, the greater the chance some combination of these pests are present.

Let’s take these pests one at a time. Some have observed adult plant bugs feeding in terminals of pre-square cotton. Others report that plant bugs have dropped square retention to below 80% in cotton that will bloom within 7-10 days. A few stink bugs can already be found in these older fields. As we know from previous experience, stink bugs will attack bolls just after the dried bloom drops off if there are no larger bolls to feed on.

Added to these bug problems are the presence of aphids and spider mites. Aphids can be found clustering in the terminals of some plants in fields of older cotton. This is typically the way an economic aphid infestation usually begins. Spider mites have been treated in some fields already. Good results were obtained with Abamectin at 10 oz. per acre. Mites are still on borders of other fields and do not appear to be spreading yet.

With the combinations of pests present, it is difficult to control multiple species without a tank mix combination. My advice to growers, agrifieldmen and consultants would be to narrow your pest spectrum to the two species that offer the most near term damage potential and select a chemical or combination that will control those. It is just too early for me to consider three way tank mix combinations. At this time I believe it would be wise to target plant bugs (and stink bugs) first and I would place aphids second. These species can be controlled with a tank mix of two materials that would be rather inexpensive. A product that will give good control of plant bugs and stink bugs would be my first choice in the tank. If this product does not control aphids, I would add one that did.

This would leave the mite issue unaddressed. I just feel that we need to protect fruit first and deal with stress from spider mites in the weeks ahead.

There are a number of ways to tackle this tank mix issue for bugs and sucking pests. One would be a mix of pyrethroid and imidacloprid. There are too many to mention all at this time. I will be happy to discuss the various options by phone at 334-332-9501 if you are having problems deciding what approach to take.


Good luck and I’ll be back as we observe or hear of other information to pass along.

Monday, June 9, 2014

White Margined Borrower Bugs in Alabama

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Final Insect Update of the Season

The Alabama row crop insect control season is rapidly winding down. The few areas that still need attention for a few more weeks are as follows. We need to protect bolls on June planted cotton from stink bug injury until the bolls are approximately 25 days old. We still have plenty of time left in the season to mature small bolls that are present from blooms the last week of August. On soybeans, stink bugs continue to reproduce and feed on pods. Late planted, June to early July, soybeans will be susceptible to stink bug feeding for several more weeks. Stink bug adults will leave other crops when they mature and seek out late planted soybeans as their last host before heading for overwintering sites. I expect to see high numbers of stink bugs in many of these late maturing soybean fields. The good thing is that one application to economic levels of stink bugs in both cotton and soybeans made now should hold populations below damaging levels for the remainder of the season. Stink bug populations currently contain both the brown and southern green species. A high rate of most pyrethroids on soybeans should give adequate suppression. Kudzu bug adults are still present in many soybean fields but they are not as numerous in most fields as they were back a month or so ago. Their numbers seemed to have peaked in April and May planted beans back in the late June to early August window.

Overall 2013 has been a light insect year in Alabama for most species. A summary of what I have observed is the following. For cotton, thrips were moderate to heavy. However, their movement from wild hosts to cotton occurred in May instead of April. Therefore, their damage period coincided with our mid-planting period cotton instead of the earliest planted as happens most seasons. Plant bugs, aphids and spider mites were very light overall. Bollworms and tobacco budworms were low to nonexistent, even in fields of conventional cotton. I have conventional cotton on three research stations spread across the central and southern areas of Alabama. One had to search very hard all season to find a single larva or damaged fruit. Stink bugs were the only cotton insect that occurred at damaging levels in most fields in-season.

In soybeans, Kudzu bugs were extremely heavy in many early planted soybean fields. This was the first year that many soybean growers have had to deal with the Kudzu bug. Others will likely have their first experience in 2014. When all is said and done, I believe we will be able to handle this insect with one, or at most two, well timed sprays. Late maturing beans will likely still see a big buildup of stink bugs in coming weeks as other crops mature and dry down. The foliage feeding complex of green cloverworms, velvetbean caterpillars and soybean loopers have been very light in 2013. This follows the most widespread infestations of the past 40 years last season. Podworms have been very light in soybeans for the past two seasons.

This has been a very unusual year rainfall wise. This may be the only season during my 41 years here as our Extension Entomologist where we had too much rain.

With these comments we will end our in season blogs unless something unusual shows up. I hope my comments have been helpful to those of you that are receiving them. Hopefully we can continue this blog, the Syngenta Insect Hotline, and our tweets during the 2014 season.


Monday, June 24, 2013

Insect and Crop Update for the Week of June 23

After going weeks with light to moderate thrips pressure, damage was heavy on 4-7 leaf cotton in early June, especially in SW Alabama.

Cotton was growing rapidly but thrips damage on true leaves was showing heavy damage from about the 4th to 7th true leaf. (Peanuts also were taking heavy damage during this same period.)

The thrips window is over now and we need to shift our focus to spider mites, aphids and the plant bug complex which includes tarnished plant bugs, fleahoppers and an occasional clouded plant bug.

Mites are primarily found in the TN Valley region of North Alabama and some treatments were being applied last week.

I noticed the first aphids on April planted cotton in central Alabama last Friday (June 21).

Plant bug numbers (adults) were down last week but nymphs are beginning to appear in our earliest planted cotton (mid-April). I would suggest using a sweep net to sample adults for the next 2-3 weeks, depending on the age of the cotton. As we approach first bloom I would switch to a drop cloth and concentrate on the presence of immature plant bugs.

Also, field men should now be looking at pinhead square set. Fields surveyed on June 21 were setting about 90% of the fruit. However, some plants had up to 30% square loss at that point. I believe you will find that migrating adult tarnished plant bugs will seek out the earliest planted and most lush cotton fields. My thought is that this cotton provides the best shade from the 95 degree temperatures, and is the best host for plant bugs.

While looking for pinhead square set I noticed a number of white eggs, likely tobacco budworms. They would not be a concern now, but in the old days it would have created a real predicament. Spraying for plant bugs during a budworm moth flight would have been expensive and also put the grower on a treatment treadmill for the remainder of the season. Sometimes we forget how well we have it compared to the pre-Bollgard years.

On another insect – a few stink bugs are already present in cotton. Normally we do not worry about stink bugs until about the third week of bloom, when we have bolls that are 10-12 days old. However, when stink bugs are present at bloom they will attack thumb sized bolls as soon as the bloom tag sheds. Any feeding to bolls this size will cause the boll to abort. Therefore, fieldmen need to be alert for adult stink bugs in early bloom cotton as they monitor for plant bugs with a sweepnet. Stink bugs will not damage squares or blooms but will seek out these first small bolls.

Since some of our corn was planted later than desired, stink bugs will likely remain with that host until the post roasting ear stage when the kernels become hard. At that time we may have a large movement into other crops such as cotton, soybeans and peanuts.

One word about Kudzu bugs on soybeans. Numbers of adults are out of site on many of our April planted beans. In fact, adult numbers are beginning to decrease in some fields now but numerous immatures are present, which is the trigger we use to treat the field. Fieldmen who have not experienced this insect may overlook these immatures when they are small. They will be a clear to greenish color and very small after hatching.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Insect Update on Cotton and Soybeans

As of 8:45 am Monday, June 10, all is quiet on the insect front. Rainfall during the past week has given cotton a growth spurt. Youngest cotton is 3 to 5 true leaves and overall has little thrips injury. Older cotton is at the 5 to 9 true leaf stage. Many fields are between the thrips injury stage and the stage where we begin to focus on plant bugs. This window is about 7 to 10 days long. Mid April planted cotton already has 2-3 pinhead or larger squares and should be scouted for adult plant bugs. No aphids or spider mites have been reported.

We will be conducting scouting schools in Autaugaville (central AL) and Headland (Wiregrass area of SE AL) this week. In addition to cotton and soybean insects (Kudzu bugs) we will also have presentations on cotton disease and resistant weed management.

Kudzu bug adults are attacking early planted soybeans in the Prattville, Tallassee and Auburn areas. At present our treatment threshold is 5 adults per plant.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Updates for Week of May 26th

Kudzu Bug adults depositing eggs in April planted soybeans in Barbour Co. (Eufala) on 5/28/13. Will wait for hatch to assess treatment needs.

Low level of cotton fleahoppers infesting 6-7 true leaf cotton at Prattville, AL.

Some controls still going out for adult grasshoppers in Central, AL. Stand loss detected from GH feeding on stems at or above soil line.

Mid May or later planted cotton with seed treatments should not need foliar thrips spray due to rapid growth of the plants.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Cotton Growing and Thrip and Grasshopper Treatments

Some of the April planted cotton is finally beginning to grow since the nights have become warmer. April 17 planted cotton at Prattville, AL now has 4-6 true leaves and is about 5 inches high. Thrips pressure is still heavy enough to cause a moderate level of visible injury to true leaves when no foliar insecticide was applied. Most cotton planted in April 2013 definitely needed a foliar spray at the 1-2 true leaf stage. Plants that emerged after May 15 likely will not need this foliar application.

I have had several calls this week about making a combination spray to target thrips and grasshoppers as an over the top herbicide is applied. My comment was positive to do this but realizing that some of the grasshopper population is now adults and will be difficult to control without going to the highest labeled rates of whatever insecticides are applied. I suggest staying with a lower rate and just targeting the thrips and immature grasshoppers.
I will come back in a few days to look ahead at out next potential cotton insect – tarnished plant bug. It has been my experience that wet springs, with delayed planting, have the potential to be bad plant bug years.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Thrips and Cotton Update

A lot of cotton has been planted this week (May 13-17). This is the first time many areas have been dry enough since early April. However, believe it or not, much of central Alabama missed rains in the last weather front and it is already too dry for seed to germinate.

Cotton that has emerged has not made much growth to this point. Cloudy weather, cool nights and a moderate number of thrips has severely hampered seedling growth. Based on my observations from monitoring four thrips research trials, I would suggest that the cooler than normal temperatures, especially at night, has done more to prevent seedling plant growth than has thrips injury.
Thrips numbers have not been abnormally high. In fact, it does not appear that the mass movement of thrips from grains and other wild host plants have occurred yet. Thrips damage is moderate to heavy primarily due to the fact that plants are not growing due to cool nights.
Cotton planted this week (May 13-17) should have better growing conditions and grow off rapidly. If that is the case, thrips injury will be minimal in spite of thrips numbers.
I would suggest that cotton emerging after May 20 will not need a foliar spray to supplement seed treatments. My thrips trials planted on April 10 did not emerge and put on a true leaf until more than 21 days after planting. In this situation, much of the thrips control provided by the seed treatments had dropped considerably before a true leaf even emerged.

The bottom line is that growing conditions, moisture and temperature are more important than thrips numbers or the type of thrips control a grower chooses.

No seed treatment and no foliar spray. Plant date 4/10/13.

Seed treatment and foliar spray. Plant date 4/10/13.

 

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Early Armyworm and Thrip Control

Armyworms, either true or fall, in whorl of knee high corn in Mobile County. Pyrethroid is suggested for control.

Cotton planted April 10-12 at Prattville, Alabama is putting on first true leaf bud this week. Remember thrips control with seed treatments drop sharply at 21 days after planting (which with the cool nights in 2013) is about the time that thrips control is really needed.
The best timing for foliar thrips control is when plants are putting on the first true leaf bud. Acephate (Orthene or generic) is one of the most effective treatments.
Our objective should be to push the plant to about the 5th true leaf stage as fast as possible. We want the largest and healthiest plant possible when we reach the 5th true leaf. For that reason, the timing of a foliar spray is more effective at the 1st true leaf than a spray at the 3rd, 4th or 5th true leaf.
Just remember that what we see as far as thrips injury above ground is also happening below ground with the root system. We don’t want these plants, with 1000-1500 lb. yield potential, to start off with a stunted root system.

Follow me on Twitter for updates throughout the season @Ron_Smith23

Friday, June 1, 2012

Announcing Alabama Scouting Schools

Announcement: Alabama Cotton Scouting Shortcourses Meeting Sites and Dates
  • June 12th (Tuesday) 2012; Autaugaville, Alabama- County Agricultural Center
  • June 13th (Wednesday) 2012; Headland, Alabama- Wiregrass Research Center
  • June 19th (Tuesday) 2012; Belle Mina, Alabama- Tennessee Valley Research Center
All meetings begin at 8:30 AM
Contact Person: Dr. Tim Reed (256-627-3450) or Dr. Ron Smith (334-332-9501)

Note: Dr. Austin Hagan will discuss cotton diseases at the Autaugaville and Headland sites. Dr. Tim Reed will cover soybean insects at all three sites.

Following are thirteen questions that represent the type of information that will be discussed.
1.      Why are grasshoppers easier to control in March/early April than May?

2.      If a foliar is needed for thrips suppression, when is the ideal stage of cotton to apply it?

3.      If you see damage to cotyledon stage cotton (no till) planted behind corn residue, what is the most likely culprit: snails, slugs, or pill bugs?

4.      What is the best method to determine when plant bug controls are needed in pre-bloom cotton?

5.      How would you measure the number of tarnished plant bugs in post bloom cotton?

6.      You are at week four or five of bloom, what would be the threshold for stink bugs?

7.      Under what conditions (situation) would a phosphate insecticide give better control of stink bugs than a pyrethroid?

8.      What new thrips insecticide entered the market this season and does not flare aphids or spider mites?

9.      Suppose you find high numbers of fall armyworms feeding on grass in your cotton field border- should you prepare to spray the cotton?

10.   How old does a green boll need to be to be safe from stink bug damage?

11.   Under what conditions would aphids be more of an economic pest or problem?

12.   At what stage is cotton normally beyond thrips injury?

13.   How long should you wait to evaluate control behind a stink bug spray?

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Thrips, Grasshoppers and Slugs

I’d like to mention several pests today, these being thrips, grasshoppers, and slugs.

1. Thrips- The heaviest pressure encountered this season was from about May 1-20. From monitoring 5 thrips trials, it appeared to me that thrips were later than normal moving from wild hosts and wheat to cotton. In addition, thrips pressure was not uniformly heavy. In some fields it seemed only low to moderate pressure was encountered. Cotton is growing very rapidly now and once it reaches the fourth leaf stage should be safe from economic thrips injury. Cotton planted on or about May 15th, with seed treatments, should not need a foliar overspray. Remember that seed treatments give adequate protection under most conditions until about 21 days after plant.
2. Grasshoppers- We lost another 45 ac. field in Talladega County to grasshoppers last week. The cotton was in the “crook” stage of emergence when attacked by grasshoppers. The strange thing about grasshopper feeding is that you can never predict when they will turn to cotton to feed. Grasshopper numbers do not mean much as far as thresholds. Sometimes a low number will cause a lot of damage and other times high numbers will result in no feeding. The usual damage from grasshoppers to cotton is in the form of stem feeding. They will feed on and cut the stem of the plant anytime from the crook stage up to about the 2-3 true leaf stage. Most grasshoppers in the system now are adults and are rather difficult to control. A max labeled rate of a pyrethroid or .75-1.0 lb. acephate is the usual grower choice in May. Back in March and April, a low rate of most any cotton insecticide will do a good job when the grasshoppers are still immatures.
3. Slugs- We have had two more locations last week where slugs were damaging stands of cotton or soybeans. This brings a total of five or more locations with loss of stands to slugs this season. These fields are always in no-till, high crop residue situations. Usually the grower/consultant looks in day time and sees pillbugs or snails and not slugs- only when observing at night do we find the real culprit, slugs. They bury deep in the residue during the day and only feed at night. Snails and pillbugs normally do not feed on cotton or soybeans. There is not much a grower can do about slugs. Metaldehyde at 10-40#/ac. is the only recommended chemical. At $2.25/lb. this would cost $25-85/ac. and controls, even then, may not be 100%. Seems to me that replanting would be the best alternative to slug damaged stands. Slug damage seems to usually be when cotton or soybeans are following corn.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Abundant Numbers of Thrips in Seedling Cotton Requiring Foliar Applications Across North Alabama

Many cotton acres in north Alabama are being treated for thrips as large numbers move from grass to cotton plants in the first to second true leaf stage. Thrips collected from a cotton field in Lawrence county on May 15 were mainly Tobacco thrips ( Frankliniella fusca) and Flower thrips (Frankliniella tritici) (usually called Eastern flower thrips). Soybean thrips (Neohydatothrips variabolis) and Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) were also present but in much lower numbers. However, the proportion of each species in other fields could be different. Pyrethroids and organophosphates are the primary classes of chemistry being applied this week for thrips control in cotton. Spider mites are present in many fields and the foliar applications of these two types of chemicals for thrips may flare spider mites and farmers and consultants should monitor fields closely. Foliar chemicals for thrips are frequently being applied in a tank mix with a herbicide and growers/consultants should read the herbicide label carefully to insure that the insecticide and herbicide can be tank mixed. Adverse interactions between some tank mixed insecticides and herbicides can result in crop injury.

Written By Tim Reed and Barry Freeman, Extension Entomologists.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Thrips Damge in Cotton

Thrips pressure is quite variable based on the location and field. The two most significant factors affecting thrips damage seem to be planting date and rainfall. Thrips trials at Prattville, AL, planted on April 16, are showing low to moderate thrips injury even without a foliar application on top of seed treatments at planting. Trials planted a week earlier, April 9, are showing heavy thrips injury behind all seed treatments. Rainfall occurred on all trials during 5 of the first 10 days of May.

Most April-planted cotton should be out of the thrips damage window within 10 days or less. Cotton planted in April had three true leaves or more with the fourth or fifth emerging on May 11.

Growers planting behind the rainfall that occurred between May 7 and May 11 will likely not have to be concerned about making a foliar spray for thrips at the first true leaf stage. Seed treatments alone should provide adequate thrips control.

Cotton up and growing should be beyond grasshopper damage. The concern about pill bug damage in the one field in Talladega County this week turns out to be primarily damage from slugs and not pill bugs.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Fine Tuning Cotton Insect Management for 2012

I. Thrips Control
  1. Need for foliar overspray
    • Influenced by planting date primarily but also to lesser degree by night temperature and overall growing conditions
    • Seed treatments planted from early April to about May 10th would benefit from foliar overspray
    • Seed treatments give 21 day thrips suppression as opposed to 28+ days with in-furrow granules
    • What you see with thrips injury above ground is reflective also of underground root conditions and growth
  2. Timing of overspray
    • Most beneficial when most of plants have 1st true leaf about the size of a small finger nail
    • Cotton with 4 or more true leaves usually does not benefit from overspray
  3. Multi state research in 2011 indicated that acephate (Orthene or generics) was equal to or superior to all other choices
    • Certain pyrethroids were a weak choice
    • Bidrin is effective but I would suggest saving for stink bug control. New label limits total use of Bidrin in one season to 1.2 lbs active.
      • New products tested: Benevia (Dupont) and Radiant ( Dow). Both looked very effective but not certain about registration date and cost.
II. Nematode Management


  1. Rotation- peanuts, grain sorghum, corn
  2. Variety selection- PHY367WRF has root knot tolerance
  3. In-furrow granules
    • Loss of Temik
    • Meymik registered on December 22, 2011 (production and supply for 2012 uncertain)
  4. Seed treatments
    • Suggest to use on lower risk fields
    • In high nematode risk fields would be like using a Band-Aid when a tourniquet is needed
  5. Fumigate (Telone)
    • Consider site specific nematicide placement (Precision Ag)
    • Nematodes usually not evenly distributed across field
  6. Deep tillage- grew cotton over 100 years without nematodes being a limiting factor- only since reduced tillage have they become a major problem
III. Plant Bugs


  1. Movement from wild host into cotton influenced by climate
    • Hot/dry results in high peak but short in time
    • Wet/cool spring results in low movement over longer period
  2. Most effective insecticides
    • Acephate (Orthene, generics)- can flare spider mites
    • Bidrin- good but only labeled for post bloom period
    • Centric- effective but hard on beneficials and fire ants
    • Pyrethroids- can flare spider mites
    • Diamond- very effective on immature stage post bloom, especially when tank mixed with one of the above
    • Intruder, Carbine, imidacloprid (Trimax), Belay, Vydate- less effective than others with one application
IV. Plant Bugs + Aphids (July)


  1. Intruder, Carbine, imidacloprid (Trimax, etc.), Centric
  2. Diamond may be combined with the above
V. Mid Season Worm Overspray

  1. May be more important with Phytogen varieties
  2. Timing could be mid July to early August depending on your north to south location
  3. Pyrethroids are a good fit here
  4. If brown stink bugs are also present, may want to select bifenthrin or Bidrin XPII (combination of Bidrin + Bifenthrin) or use highest labeled rate of other pyrethroids
  5. Role of Fire Ants in Cotton
    • Are the dominant beneficial in Alabama cotton today
    • Not only important in conventional systems but also reduces escapes in Bollgard and WideStrike (Example: Mississippi consultants spray BGII on % egg lay)
    • Some chemicals suppress fire ants more than others (Centric, Steward, pyrethroids, imidacloprid)
    • Dr. Tim Reed and I conducted a project at Prattville last season (Poster Presentation)
    • Results show less boll damage on both conventional and genetic cotton with fire ants in system as opposed to no fire ants
      • Numbers on the side represent the number of worm damaged bolls per 45 feet.
      Impact of Fire Ants On Bollworm
      Damage in Alabama Cotton
VI. Fall Armyworms


  1. 2010 and 2011 seasons have produced widespread outbreaks of the “grass” or “rice” strain of the FAW
  2. This strain primarily attacks pastures, hay, grasses and peanuts and are easy to control with most insecticides, including pyrethroids
  3. They do not prefer to feed on cotton or corn
VII. Stink Bugs

  1. Some level of scouting needed for most economical control
    • May need 0-4 sprays ($6-9 each considering application)
    • Could pay for a field scout with savings or reduced damage from stink bugs alone
  2. Most effective scouting is to examine 10-12 day old bolls for internal injury
  3. Use “dynamic” or sliding threshold which considers the number of bolls at risk at a given week of bloom
  4. Possible Reasons for Low Stink Bug Pressure in 2011
    • Winter temperatures (colder than recent winters)
      • Southern green stink bug is very sensitive to cold weather
    • Impact of hot, dry spring on wild host/corn—may have reduced numbers of brown stink bug species
  5.  New Stink Bugs
    • Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
    • Kudzu Bug (soybeans)
    • Red-Banded Stink Bug (soybeans)  


Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Red Banded Stink Bug
 
Kudzu Bug


 
VIII. New Products and Technology

  1. Sulfoxaflor (Transform)- Dow
    • Effective on plant bugs and aphids
  2. Beseige (combination of Karate + Coragen)
    • Effective on broad spectrum of caterpillars (loopers, fall armyworms), plus would have green stink bug activity
  3. Endigo (combination of Karate + Centric)
    • Effective on certain caterpillars, plant bugs, aphids and green stink bugs
  4. Belay- in market place for past two seasons for plant bug/stink bug control
    • Still need more University research to get a good handle on effectiveness
  5. Prevathon (Dupont)
    • One of most active caterpillar insecticides ever developed
    • Excellent residual, depending on rate
    • Very rainfast
    • Should be targeted at egg stage or small larvae
  6. Bayer Twin-Link
    • Contains multiple Bt genes
    • Performs somewhere between WideStrike and Bollgard II for caterpillar control
  7. Bollgard III
    • Under development
    • Third gene is not a Bt so it has multiple modes of action for worms
    • Reduces escapes over Bollgard II and will provide long term resistance management for the genetic technology
  8. Poncho/Votivo Seed Treatment
    • Insecticide + biological nematicide
    • Looked at it in one trial on cotton and could see growth response and earliness, even under low nematode pressure