Armyworms

[Jogeephus]

Its that time of year again. My fields are covered up in them. Too wet to spray with a tractor so I'll be hitting them from the air tomorrow morning assuming its not raining.

 

[M-5]

Its that time of year again. My fields are covered up in them. Too wet to spray with a tractor so I'll be hitting them from the air tomorrow morning assuming its not raining.

I've been checking daily. Hopefully they hold off a few days here.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Dang it man that stinks. I'm planning on cutting hay this weekend unless the weather report changes.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Do they prefer the Bermuda grasses on the east coast? I have never seen them march on Bahia here, they will eat crab grass if the bermudas are gone.

 

[bird dog]

No worry here. Nothing for them to eat.

 

[Jogeephus]

Do they prefer the Bermuda grasses on the east coast? I have never seen them march on Bahia here, they will eat crab grass if the bermudas are gone.

They do seem to prefer bermuda here but I've seen them in bahia once but they didn't seem to do much damage and may have just been trying to get to bermuda field next door.

It just seems a bit early for them but this grass should have been cut a couple weeks ago.

 

[M-5]

Do they prefer the Bermuda grasses on the east coast? I have never seen them march on Bahia here, they will eat crab grass if the bermudas are gone.

They do seem to prefer bermuda here but I've seen them in bahia once but they didn't seem to do much damage and may have just been trying to get to bermuda field next door.

It just seems a bit early for them but this grass should have been cut a couple weeks ago.

I'm thinking if I do have any they drowned the last few days . I'm starting to see animals pair up.

 

[M-5]

With as much rain as we have had since Sunday , I was curious if it had any bearing on them because previous history the worst infestations have been in dry weather . this is what I have found so far.

"Prolonged wet weather can be hard on the armyworm larvae by creating conditions whereby a fungus knocks down the population. They do not like sun and heat, so they respond to those conditions by crawling under trash on the ground during the day and coming out at night to eat. (If you are scouting for armyworms in a field in the heat of the day, for example, look at the base of the plant and meticuously uncover the trash in the row.) Cool weather is what they like."

http://extension.missouri.edu/webster/armyworms.aspx

 

[Jogeephus]

With all the rain we've had I figured they would have drowned and never even thought to look. Besides, it seems a little early for worms. Also, I didn't see any cowbirds but I think they were out there only the grass was so tall you couldn't see them because yesterday I jumped a flock of them in the field and it looked like they came out of the ground. Some of my grass is crotch deep.

 

[M-5]

With all the rain we've had I figured they would have drowned and never even thought to look. Besides, it seems a little early for worms. Also, I didn't see any cowbirds but I think they were out there only the grass was so tall you couldn't see them because yesterday I jumped a flock of them in the field and it looked like they came out of the ground. Some of my grass is crotch deep.

I saw cowbirds last week and went to investigate , all I found was a healthy crop of grasshoppers in the bermuda . I plan to check the crabgrass field this afternoon. It is early for them by a few weeks.

 

[Jogeephus]

With all the rain we've had I figured they would have drowned and never even thought to look. Besides, it seems a little early for worms. Also, I didn't see any cowbirds but I think they were out there only the grass was so tall you couldn't see them because yesterday I jumped a flock of them in the field and it looked like they came out of the ground. Some of my grass is crotch deep.

I saw cowbirds last week and went to investigate , all I found was a healthy crop of grasshoppers in the bermuda . I plan to check the crabgrass field this afternoon. It is early for them by a few weeks.

IMO, the best way to check for them is to ride through your field at night and watch for the moths. Assuming you don't rut up your field and get stuck like I will now. Calling for more rain today. And tomorrow.

 

[M-5]

With all the rain we've had I figured they would have drowned and never even thought to look. Besides, it seems a little early for worms. Also, I didn't see any cowbirds but I think they were out there only the grass was so tall you couldn't see them because yesterday I jumped a flock of them in the field and it looked like they came out of the ground. Some of my grass is crotch deep.

I saw cowbirds last week and went to investigate , all I found was a healthy crop of grasshoppers in the bermuda . I plan to check the crabgrass field this afternoon. It is early for them by a few weeks.

IMO, the best way to check for them is to ride through your field at night and watch for the moths. Assuming you don't rut up your field and get stuck like I will now. Calling for more rain today. And tomorrow.

still coming down here , I estimate we are at 7" since Sunday .

 

[Texas Gal]

Too hot and dry here to worry about them.

 

[Jogeephus]

It started raining about 20 minutes ago. I suspect we've had two inches in that twenty minutes. Its coming down in buckets. I sprayed Mustang and Dimlin this morning - after it quit raining - and I hope the worms are sick and laying in the water and too weak to swim. That's my dream of course. In my world though the rain has washed everything away and the worms will be back in force tomorrow but all the pesticide will wash downstream and kill all the fish in a lawyer's pond. :bang:

 

[JMJ Farms]

It started raining about 20 minutes ago. I suspect we've had two inches in that twenty minutes. Its coming down in buckets. I sprayed Mustang and Dimlin this morning - after it quit raining - and I hope the worms are sick and laying in the water and too weak to swim. That's my dream of course. In my world though the rain has washed everything away and the worms will be back in force tomorrow but all the pesticide will wash downstream and kill all the fish in a lawyer's pond. :bang:

You should be fine Jogeephus. May lose the residual of the Dimlin but the Mustang should have put the hurt on them almost instantly.

 

[M-5]

Knock on wood , nothing here yet.