Weekly in-season Updates
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INFORMATION |
August 22, 2005 Talkin’ Cotton
Most cotton fields in this area received good rains last week boosting potential for a good yield in dryland areas. Cotton is blooming heavily and rainfall following moisture stress will probably cause a period of rapid growth. Several producers have called and questioned the use of mepiquat chloride based growth regulators to slow terminal growth of the plant. If the plant has three or four green bolls that are thumb sized or larger, the boll load will likely control the growth following the initial flush of growth after rainfall. A few fields I have observed have a lot of blooms and squares, but very few large green bolls. I very seldom recommend Pix late in the season, but in these fields Pix use will probably be justified. Pix activity is determined by the concentration of material within the plant and larger plants will require more material to obtain the same result. In some fields I have recommended as much as 24 ounces of product to redirect vegetative growth into fruit development. This needs to be done as soon as possible because we need to retain as many flowers as we can prior to the first of September. Depending on fruit load, a September white flower will have approximately a 50% chance of developing into a harvestable boll.
Well fruited cotton (usually irrigated) has been losing an abnormally high number of bolls immediately following flowering. It is alarming to observe this many fruiting forms in the furrow between rows. Most of the cotton experiencing this is well fruited cotton that has been running at full capacity to deliver carbohydrates to the bolls. The cloudy and somewhat cooler days during the rainy period last week severely reduced photosynthesis resulting in a drastic reduction in carbohydrate flow to the bolls. The most sensitive time for boll shedding is immediately following flowering, and fruit in this stage was aborted. When the sun finally returned, squares were left on the plant and they immediately started blooming again. Again, depending on fruit load and environmental conditions, blooms that are developed in the next week have potential to develop into bolls.
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