Weekly in-season Updates
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INFORMATION |
September 1, 2007 Talkin’ Cotton
It is quickly approaching the time producers need to consider termination of irrigation on their cotton crop. Factors involved in this decision are stage of the crop and the amount of water available in the soil profile. Generally, our rule of thumb in the irrigation district is to have a full soil water profile near the first of September. This will allow the young developing bolls to finish their fiber development without encouraging late vegetative growth. In a normal year, we have about a fifty percent chance of maturing blooms that are on the plant on September 1. If the plant has a heavy boll load, that percentage decreases due to the stress the developing bolls have on the plant and the resulting shed of small bolls. On furrow irrigation, the full profile of water on September 1 remains the best decision, but on circle irrigated or drip irrigated fields, the final irrigation date will probably need to be extended by approximately one week. Overhead irrigation normally is not heavy enough at each application to fill the soil profile, and drip irrigation has the plant trained to get water from the emitters. On termination of irrigation on these areas, the plant will stress for water much more quickly than when the profile is full.
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