Choose fields for cotton planting carefully. A field's cropping history is important. Cotton planted in fields infested with cotton pests or in fields with poor nutrient balance will suffer yield loss. Also, keep in mind the crops surrounding your cotton fields. Do they harbor pests of cotton such as whitefly or lygus bugs? Carefully planned cultural practices in adjacent crops can help you reduce pest pressures in cotton. Use the checklists below when selecting fields for cotton planting.
| Agronomic information |
Determine past cotton varieties that have been planted and their planting and harvest dates and yields. See if the field has supported successful production. |
| Weeds |
Survey weeds in the spring before planting. This is crucial for the selecting an appropriate preplant herbicide or rotational crop. |
| Cropping history |
Identify previous crops that are known hosts of cotton pests. |
| Surrounding crops |
Check for cultivated crops such as alfalfa, safflower, sugarbeet, potato, and sunflower; all harbor lygus bugs. |
| Presence of pests such as: |
Lygus bug |
Manage adjacent alfalfa for lygus bug control. |
| Sweetpotato whitefly |
Plant cotton at least 1/2 mile upwind from other key whitefly hosts such as melons and cole crops. |
| Root-knot nematode |
Check population levels with soil sampling. See the pest management guideline and the cotton IPM manual for more details. |
| Verticillium wilt inoculum |
Use results from soil or stem sampling (percent discoloration) taken preharvest or at harvest to determine the need for tolerant cotton or rotational crop. |
| Fusarium wilt inoculum |
Manage nematodes for race 1 Fusarium control. For race 1 and race 4 use Fusarium-free seed produced in disease-free fields. Avoid using gin trash in cotton fields. |