Priority is Nitrogen and Weeds - Pix around the corner, Plant Bugs isolated and spotty and in the east. 6-12-19 Our primary focus for cotton will be getting the nitrogen on fields soon. After this recent rain event, I am expecting cotton on light land to really look hungry, and just a hundred pounds of ammonium sulfate or injecting liquid close to the row will make a big difference. Liquid is so much cheaper this year that dribbling in the middles will be very desirable, however, on this light soil, you could still benefit from that little bit of broadcast. Equal in priority to getting the plant well fed is the weed control programs. Getting a residual on now is also going to help. I like Dual, Warrant or Outlook for grass and palmer or Staple for other broadleaf weeds. Don’t add extra adjuvants with the residual herbicides. If you get these two jobs done, you are taking care of the basics that are required for top profits. Lower on the priority list but next is line is Pix applications and plant bugs. Actually, plant bugs can be very important if you have them and Dr. Taylor has a great blog on pre-bloom plant bug management. (See the link in the cotton news feed below)We are early on plant bugs, but they will become more important as the season progresses along with Pix. I like to focus on 16 to 24 inches for pre-bloom pix which also is the stage where we have a good number of squares. One of my rules is also not to apply pix before it gets sidedressed unless you already had a lot of nitrogen on at planting. The primary strategy for mid-June is scouting and not automatically spraying for Pix and bugs. The research station offers free shake cloths for plant bugs scouting or you can order a sweep net off the internet. Scouting will enable us to better utilize the advantages of holding beneficial insects in the field as long as possible by not spraying all the acreage while targeting those problem fields with specific products particularly during this lower risk period.
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