Hopefully everybody is rolling along and in the “short rows” on this year’s crop if you are not done already. I have received more calls this week about this late planted cotton, and I wanted to address a few things:
- We still have to put something out PRE on cotton. If you are worried about getting a stand then Warrant may need to be taken out in case of a replant situation. There is a 21 day replant interval behind Warrant unless you are able to till it.
- Extension agronomist, Dr. Glen Harris, is recommending to back off on our fertilizer. For this late cotton, reduce total N rate by 25-30%. Also, he recommends taking some off both pre-plant and sidedress applications if possible. We want the plant to shift from vegetative growth to reproductive growth quicker because we do not have as much time to finish our crop, and we do not know when we will receive our first frost.
- The only thing that has changed with PGR applications in later planted cotton versus early planted cotton is the fact that we can not afford to be late on late planted cotton. We HAVE to make timely PGR applications. Several factors go into making PGR decisions: crop condition, dryland or irrigated, future weather conditions, as well as variety. That being said, we really have to think before making an application. Our goal is to promote crop earliness and make sure we make a great bottom crop, and if mother nature allows, we can also fill out the top. Timely PGR applications will help us to do that.
