Effects of Selected Foliar Insecticides on Early Season Cotton Insect Control, Stoneville, Ms, 1984

Abstract

Abstract A small plot field experiment was conducted on the Delta French Branch Experiment Station, Stoneville, MS. Plots (4 rows × 50 ft with 2 row buffers) were planted to ‘DES 422’ cotton on 7 May. The experiment was conducted as a RCB with 9 replicates per block. All insecticide applications were made with a John Deere high clearance sprayer equipped with a compressed air spray system. The sprayer delivered a spray volume of ca. 4.5 gps through 2 TX-4 nozzles/row. Two basic insecticide treatment regimes were used: (1) initiating applications at the first true leaf (ITL) stage of plant growth, and (2) initiating applications at the pinhead square (PHS) stage of plant growth. In both cases, applications were made on weekly intervals until the first bloom stage of growth. After first bloom all plots except the untreated check were oversprayed with Pydrin, Comite, and Lorsban to prevent subsequent insect damage. ITL treatments were applied on 25 and 31 May, and 5, 13, 19, and 28 Jun. PHS treatments were applied on 5, 13, 19, and 28 Jun. Plots were oversprayed on 6, 16, 23, and 25 Jul, and 3 and 20 Aug. Thrips populations were monitored by shaking the plants in a hill of cotton over a standard cigar box or white pan and counting the number of immature and mature thrips. Ten hills were sampled in each plot.