Follow these tips to avoid early-season seedling disease

WHILE SEEDLING DISEASE didn't have a major-impact on Missouri cotton yields in 2001, Dr. Allen Wrather, Unicity Missouri Extension plant pathologist, notes growers should consider field histories and steps to avoid seedling disease every season. Most years, the Cotton Disease Council estimates losses due to seedling disease in the United States at 2.5% to 3.5%, at a value of more than $100 million.

"Seedling diseases were not very problematic for Missouri cotton growers in 2001, taking only 1% of yields compared to 3% in 2000," Wrather says. "Drier and warmer weather at planting helped us miss most seedling disease development."

Development of seedling disease is almost universally weather-dependent. "Micro-organisms are much more likely to attack cotton seedlings when the soil is cool and damp," Wrather says.