Preemergence herbicide and glyphosate effects on seedling diseases in glyphosate-resistant cotton

Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of preemergence (PRE) herbicides metolachlor at 1,700 g ai/ha, pyrithiobac at 70 g ai/ha, or pendimethalin at 840 g ai/ha applied alone or with fluometuron at 1,300 g ai/ha and glyphosate postemergence (POST) at 840 g ai/ha on seedling diseases in glyphosate-resistant cotton. Hypocotyl disease severity both years averaged across PRE herbicide treatments was greater after glyphosate application to four-leaf cotton than cotyledon cotton. The PRE herbicide treatments, particularly those including fluometuron, increased root and hypocotyl disease ratings compared with a nontreated control, and a sequential application of glyphosate did not further increase disease severity. Greenhouse experiments using soil infested with Rhizoctonia solani confirmed findings from the field study showing that PRE herbicides can predispose cotton to greater seedling disease injury with no increased seedling disease severity associated with application of glyphosate. In the field study, glyphosate applied at cotyledon or four-leaf growth stages decreased disease severity on cotton hypocotyls both years. This inhibitory effect of glyphosate was less evident in the greenhouse study and may have been related to species of fungi present, infestation level, and differences in environmental conditions when compared with the field.