July 8, 2009 - The best chance of rain for the next week is this coming Sunday but that certainly does not appear to be anything large at this point. 

Other than weed control, the main cotton chore is an application of Boron by the time cotton begins blooming if you did not make any soil applications. Cotton growth will remain relatively slow until we get some soaking rainfall. 

I have gotten a few questions about plantbugs and have generally found that most of the fields do not have a problem currently. That being said, there are some fields that I would consider borderline but they are extremely scattered. Plantbug activity is usually more significant when rainfall is plentiful and cotton growth is aggressive. 

I am not comfortable making a general insecticide application right now on stressed cotton. Bidrin and the Pyrethroids are pretty economical, but there is potential for flaring up spider mites or aphids in these dry conditions. Trimax or Centric are more expensive, but will not flare up spider mites and actually can control aphids. 

In summary, most cotton does not need an insecticide, but check your fields for that isolated exception. 

Insect pressure (plantbugs) low.  3 to 5% of fields meeting square retention concerns.  Not enough rain to change the growth rate of cotton.  If no boron is used in fertilizer, then first foliar spray should be made at early bloom.  Almost all April planted cotton is blooming.  Early May planted cotton just beginning to bloom.