For 3 yr, herbicide treatments of preplant trifluralin (α,α,α-trifluoro-2,6-dinitro-N,N-dipropyl-p-toluidine), postemergence diuron [3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea], both herbicides, or none were superimposed on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. ‘Acala SJ-2′) grown on beds centered at 102 cm using a single row or two rows spaced 28 cm apart. Cotton stand, after thinning, was 5.1 plants/m in each cotton row. Herbicides controlled annual weeds regardless of planting pattern. Cultivation, without herbicides, controlled annual grass weeds much better in cotton grown in single rows than in double rows. Preplant applications of trifluralin did not influence populations of cotton plants, regardless of row pattern. Single- and double-row plots treated with trifluralin always yielded more than untreated double rows. In two of three seasons, however, single-row plots without herbicides yielded as much as those treated with trifluralin. The lower yields in the double-row cotton were associated with reduced annual grass control especially in plots not treated with trifluralin. Weed control treatments or planting patterns did not influence the occurrence of Pythium ultimum Trow or Rhizoctonia solani Kühn on cotton seedlings. The presence of Thielaviopsis basicola (Berk & Br.) Ferr. on cotton seedlings was not influenced by planting pattern but was increased by trifluralin in the third year of the study. Percentage of cotton plants with symptoms of verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae Kleb.) was not influenced by weed control treatments, but the percentage of diseased plants was higher in single-row than in double-row planting patterns. We attribute this response to fewer plants per hectare in single rows compared to double rows.

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.