South Georgia Weather
Transplant Growth, Plantbeds and Greenhouses
New Product Labeling
Repeated El Nino rains have caused soil conditions to be wet since October of 1997. By mid-February of most years, most growers are well on the way to completing soil preparation for tobacco. However, few fields have been disturbed and none have been completely prepared for transplanting. Rains like those received the last weekend in February, which ranged from 1.5 to 3 inches across the state, continue to keep field work to a minimum.
In general, transplant growth in plantbeds and greenhouses is behind that normally expected for this time of year. Stands are less uniform than desired under both systems, and the size of transplants is very irregular. Excessively wet soils and humid air with cloudy weather have resulted in numerous losses to dampening-off and slow growth. A number of instances of vegetable weevil damage have been observed.
A number of products have recently received labels for use in tobacco. Tracer has received a Section 24C for use in tobacco for 1998 for foliar control of budworms and hornworms. Rates range from 1.4 to 2 oz per acre. Although Tracer does not provide control of aphids, flea beetles or other sucking insects, it would complement the control of products like Admire, which provides systemic control of sucking insects. Admire 2 flowable and Provado 1.6 flowable both first received Section 3 labels for use in tobacco in 1997. Admire is a soil applied insecticide and Provado is the same active ingredient for foliar application and control of later season sucking insects.
Spartan 75 DF received a Section 3 label late in the 1997 transplanting season. Spartan is an excellent material for control of nutsedge, morningglory and broadleaf weeds. However, this material is limited to surface application with a maximum incorporation depth of 2 inches. This means that this material should not be a tankmix partner for the materials normally preplant incorporated for tobacco. Beds should be pre-shaped, Spartan applied over the soil surface, and the tobacco transplanted into the bed or the flat soil surface without significantly displacing the layer of treated soil on either side of the tranplanter sword. The application rate for Georgia soils should be limited to 5.3 oz of product per acre. In some cases, a companion product may need to be included to assist with heavy pressure from certain grasses.
The EPA has just notified the State Department of Agriculture that it has granted a Section 18 label for the use of Acrobat MZ for the prevention of blue mold in tobacco during the 1998 season. This is the third year of this labeling, and the same labeling exception would not be expected for another year. At this time, no blue mold outbreaks have been reported by the North American Blue Mold Forecast Program on the World Wide Web. Growers interested in following blue mold activity during the 1998 season should contact their local county extension agent for assistance with this program.
Thank you for calling the Georgia Tobacco Hotline, presented by the University of Georgia Extension Tobacco Team and brought to you by the makers of Orthene 75S.
