If you’ve got cotton ready to defoliate, this is a week I’d try to get after it. We’re looking at highs in the upper 80s across the state and lows in the 60s to low 70s, so conditions should be pretty good for defoliation. Once those cooler temperatures arrive, we’ll probably need to adjust rates and/or products accordingly. The biggest thing I’m watching is the weather headed into the weekend. We could see some spotty rain beforehand, with better rain chances Saturday and Sunday. If I were trying to defoliate this week, I’d want to be wrapped up by Thursday to make sure I had enough rain-free time. I’d also take advantage of these warmer temperatures while they’re here. It looks like we’re going to cool off for a while after the weekend rain. We definitely need that moisture, especially for getting dryland peanuts out of the ground, but the cooler weather is going to make cotton defoliation a little more complicated. If I had cotton that was 60% open or more, I’d be doing everything I could to defoliate it this week.
For this week, I’d be around:
- 3–4 oz/acre thidiazuron (Dropp/Freefall/Klean-Pik/etc.)
- 6–10 oz/acre tribufos (Folex/Def/etc.)
- 32–42 oz/acre ethephon (Prep/Super Boll/Setup/etc.)
- On the tribufos, I’d stay toward the lower rate on hotter days or where there isn’t as much foliage to remove. As we get closer to the weekend and the rain/cooldown, I’d lean toward the higher end.
- And one reminder on morning glories: if you’re adding a PPO, take the tribufos out. I would not put ETX or Aim into the standard three-way mix. That combination is asking for trouble, in my opinion.