By: Jared Whitaker<\/p>\n
The 2018 Georgia cotton season has started off as a tale of two extremes.\u00a0 Rainfall during April and the first two weeks of May was almost non-existent, which delayed planting in some dryland situations and even made stand establishment with irrigation challenging.\u00a0 Since then, rainfall has been plentiful if not excessive across the entire state.\u00a0 The wet conditions have left many producers waiting to get back into the field to resume planting operation.\u00a0 Now, as if conditions were not wet enough, the tropical system Alberto in the Gulf of Mexico has been forecasted to bring several more inches to most of Georgia this week.\u00a0 Undoubtedly, this course of events will force producers to plant a significant portion of the cotton crop during the month of June.<\/p>\n
Typically, the majority of the cotton crop in Georgia is planted in the month of May.\u00a0 However, a portion of Georgia\u2019s cotton crop each year is planted early June, but most often those acres are this late due to planting only after harvesting wheat or another winter grain crop.\u00a0 This year a much larger portion of the crop will be planted in June than normal and there are several things to consider which may dramatically impact the relative success of these acres.<\/p>\n
There is a reason that most of the crop is typically planted prior to early June.\u00a0 It is because of yield potential.\u00a0 Research in Georgia has indicated that yield potential usually starts to diminish with plantings after the first week to 10 days or so of June.\u00a0 The relative success of late-planted cotton is certainly dependent upon the weather in September and October as well as the date of the first frost, but we can also impact it by a couple of management decisions.<\/p>\n
The most important thing to consider when planting late is that there is very little, if any, room for error.\u00a0 When it is this late in the season, we are only going to get one shot to get a stand. If a replant is required we are likely past any window for maximizing yields and past any insurance deadlines.\u00a0 Conditions need to be ideal and if irrigation is available, utilize water as needed to prevent soil crusting or enhance stand establishment.\u00a0 If planting in dryland situations, it would be best if the soil were to slightly crust prior to planting, as the planting operation would break the crust and allow for quick emergence (but as late as it is, go when it\u2019s possible).\u00a0 A rotary hoe is a great tool to help with compacted soil around germinating and emerging seed, but be sure to use this tool early rather than later (typically 2-3 days after planting is best).<\/p>\n
Considerations should also be made in regards to seeding rates when planting late. Generally we shoot for final plant stands of at least 1.5 to 1.75 plants per row-ft (in 36\u201d rows) which can usually be accomplished with seeding rates as low as 2.0 seeds per row-ft.\u00a0 In all situations, lower than adequate plant stands can significantly reduce yield potential, delay maturity, and delay canopy closure which can allow for more pressure from weeds.\u00a0 In the situation where we are planting late, these issues are even more apparent.\u00a0 In addition to the impact of limited stands, in late-planted cotton there is likely a benefit to a thicker than usual stand due to the fact that late-planted cotton has less time to make cotton on outer and upper fruiting positions and more stalks often equates to higher yields.\u00a0 Therefore, we should adjust our seeding rates to aim for a final stand of around 2 plants per row-ft rather than 1.5.<\/p>\n
Preemergence herbicides are a necessity in Georgia cotton and there are quite a few combinations of products which can provide excellent residual control of Palmer amaranth and other weeds that can limit yields.\u00a0 It is extremely important to eliminate weed pressure as much as possible in late-planted situations.\u00a0 However, the impact of cotton injury from PRE herbicides can be worse on late-planted cotton than earlier planted cotton due to less time for growth and development.\u00a0 One additional comment that we feel is worth mentioning is related to one particular PRE herbicide.\u00a0 Although Warrant is an excellent PRE herbicide for cotton, remember that UGA recommends that if Warrant is applied PRE to cotton, a total of 21 days should pass before replanting OR a tillage operation is needed.\u00a0 With the extremely limited amount of time that we would have if we did have to replant, this could be a deal breaker.\u00a0 For example, if we planted a field this week (June 1) and on June 10th<\/sup>\u00a0we realized a heavy rain event caused compaction and left a less than desirable stand, we would not be able to jump out there and replant if we used Warrant PRE (we\u2019d need tillage or another eight days).<\/p>\n Overall crop management is always an important issue but this importance is magnified for a short season crop. If irrigation is available all care should be taken to ensure rapid stand establishment, decrease any stress, and enhance fruit retention during episodes of dry weather. Careful consideration should also be made to the plant growth regulator program (PGR). Mepiquat containing PGRs should be applied to prevent any excessive vegetative growth and boll rot and to promote crop earliness.<\/p>\n