I wanted to share water requirement information, provided in the following chart, and demonstrate the importance of water/irrigation during squaring. Dr. Guy Collins and Dr. Jared Whitaker (UGA agronomist) have provided weekly water requirements for cotton. The first chart recommends 1″ of water per week, during the first three weeks of squaring. Although, this is not usually considered the time of greatest water demand, it is critically important to not let the cotton stress or dry out during this time.
The chart below shows us the devastating effect that, lack of water during squaring, can have on cotton yield. There is the potential for a 400 -600 pound yield loss, regardless of variety and maturity, if cotton dries out during the first few weeks of squaring. This chart also shows detrimental effect to yield,even when cotton received necessary water during bloom but was deprived of water during squaring (red bar). In that situation, it yielded similarly to dryland cotton. So, we have the opportunity to produce beneficial results/yields, if we can keep the water available during the early squaring phase.