Are there areas of your cotton field with unusually thin stands? Do you have shorter-than-normal plants?

In-season soil sampling in those problem areas can tell you if nematodes are to blame.

“If you are growing cotton in the Delta, you almost certainly have a nematode problem,” says Tom Allen, Mississippi State University Extension/research professor. “It’s not a question of if, but a question of when and which nematode becomes an issue, especially in fields planted to continuous cotton.”

In addition to sparse or unusually short stands, nematode damage may appear as wilted, stressed plants that look like they are not receiving sufficient irrigation or appear nutrient stressed.

Above-ground symptomatology in the field can be similar between southern root-knot nematode and reniform nematode infestations. Southern root-knot nematode infestations can be identified by the presence of root galling in cotton seedlings, and are most often found in sandier soil classes. In comparison, reniform nematode prefers silt loam soils and does not produce galls on the roots, making it more difficult to identify at the field level without collecting and submitting a soil sample to a diagnostic laboratory.

It is possible for both nematode species to be present in the same sandy or sandy silt-loam soil. Plant parasitic nematodes, in general, do not favor heavy clay soils.

Managing nematodes is much more efficient if you are using an integrated management approach:

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