Field studies were conducted in 2016, 2017, and 2020 in the south-central and Coastal Bend regions of Texas to determine the effects of various biostimulants, soil additives, and plant protectants on corn growth and yield. In south-central Texas, the use of pop-up fertilizer (9-30-0 + Zn) either alone or in combination with either 2% N, bifenthrin, or bifenthrin + pyraclostrobin resulted in the greatest corn vigor but a yield response was only noted with pop-up fertilizer alone at 28,062 or 46,771 mL ha−1 in one year. In the Coastal Bend region, leaf tissue analysis showed that only Fe was affected with the use of any soil additive. Bacillus licheniformis + Bacillus megaterium + Bacillus pumilus increased Fe leaf tissue content by 20% over the untreated check. Radicoat seed coating at 438 mL ha−1 reduced corn plant stand by 10%, and Pseudomonas brassicaceanum reduced corn height when compared with the untreated check; however, no differences in test weight or yield from the untreated check were noted with any soil additives. Little if any impacts of the use of biostimulants, soil amendments, or plant protectants were seen in these studies.
Field studies were conducted in 2016, 2017, and 2020 in south-central and the Coastal Bend regions of Texas to determine the effects of various biostimulants and soil additives on corn growth and yield. In south-central Texas, the use of pop-up fertilizer (9-30-0 + Zn) either alone or in combination with either 2% N, bifenthrin, or bifenthrin + pyraclostrobin resulted in the greatest corn vigor but a yield response was only noted with pop-up fertilizer alone at 28062 or 46771 ml ha-1 in one year. In the Coastal Bend region, leaf tissue analysis showed that only Fe was affected with the use of any soil additive. Bacillus licheniformis + bacillus megaterium + bacillus pumilus increased Fe leaf tissue content by 20% over the untreated check. Radicoat seed coating at 438 ml ha-1 reduced corn plant stand by 10% and Pseudomonas brassicaceanum reduced corn height when compared with the untreated check; however, no differences in test weight or yield from the untreated check were noted with any soil additive. Little if any impacts of the use of biostimulants or soil amendments were seen in these studies.
The cotton fleahopper (Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter)) is an early-season hemipteran plant bug pest of cotton. In transgenic cotton cultivars, Bt event Mpp51Aa2 (Cry51Aa2) affects some other plant bug species (Hemiptera: Miridae) (we henceforth use the common terminology, stating that these cultivars have the ThryvOn trait). Field experiments were conducted in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, to evaluate the responses of four cotton cultivars with and without the ThryvOn trait to cotton fleahopper infestations, comparing them with early-season foliar insecticide applications of flupyradifurone. Naturally occurring cotton fleahopper populations rose to the economic threshold midway through the first four weeks of squaring, when cotton plants are most sensitive to feeding injury, in 2024 and later in the same period in 2025. Flupyradifurone application significantly reduced adult and nymph abundance, resulting in reduced square abscission (2025) and yield protection that was consistent across cultivars in 2024 but more variable in 2025. Cultivars expressing the ThryvOn trait exhibited modest and variable reductions in adult cotton fleahopper abundance (~10–30%), occasionally benefiting from reduced square abscission but not protected yield. The open boll ratio, used to assess maturity delay, was not affected by cultivar or cotton fleahopper pressure. These results indicate that ThryvOn cultivars may provide limited supplemental benefits but do not replace or enhance the effectiveness of flupyradifurone for cotton fleahopper management.