Cotton Progress and Management Considerations

Cotton planting is all but completed for the 2012 growing season.  Given current cotton prices the number of acres of cotton planted behind wheat will likely be very small this year.  Cotton growth stages throughout the state range from one to two nodes to eight to nine nodes and squaring depending on your locale.  A large portion of the crop this year appears to be two to three weeks ahead of schedule.

Jason Bond and Tom Eubank have done an excellent job of relating the importance of residual herbicides for control of glyphosate-resistant weeds.  In many cases, residual products have already been applied; however, if you have not applied a residual herbicide you should be planning to do so soon.  Once glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth emerges and starts growing, control becomes increasingly difficult particularly in Roundup Ready Flex cotton.  For those that are growing Liberty Link cotton, keep in mind that Liberty is effective on small pigweeds.  Once pigweeds reach 4” in height control with Liberty begins to decrease.  It is imperative to control glyphosate-resistant weeds as well as other pests in a timely manner in order to maintain maximum yield potential.

Irrigation applications have not yet begun; however, irrigation should be given some consideration depending on the growth stage of your crop.  Many areas of the state were fortunate to receive rainfall over the past 36 hours which provided much needed moisture.  As older cotton begins to approach bloom, the need for irrigation begins to increase.  Depending on the weather irrigation applications in cotton will likely begin in approximately three to four weeks.