Cotton still ranges from the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Since we are just a week out of my target date (August 5) of having 5 nodes above white flower we should already be in the 5-7 NAWF range. More than that may push maturity too late.
Having fewer than 5 now would not be taking full advantage of the “effective bloom period”. I will reiterate that we make cotton in August.
Insect pests have picked up somewhat over the last few days. Cotton aphids are becoming more common, but very good numbers of beneficials are present in those situations keeping them in check. I can find cotton fleahoppers occasionally but am not seeing fruit loss on young squaring cotton.
I have seen some cotton bollworm damage in terminals but have not found any worms. Just be aware that activity of bollworm increases as we go into August. Watch your conventional varieties. We are keeping an eye out for Lygus and other plant bugs. My priorities for the next few weeks are: Keep up with crop water demands, we are nearing peak use in flowering cotton of 0.30” per day.
Wrap-up fertilizer applications by the first of August, or at least before 5 NAWF. Late applications only delay maturity and can encourage cotton aphids.
Keep a close watch out for cotton aphids, Lygus, stinkbugs, and cotton bollworms over the next 3-4 weeks.
Do not let cotton vegetative growth get out of hand. Our target of 5 NAWF should be reached around August 5th.
This allows us to literally bloom out the top by the last effective bloom date of approximately August 20.
Come Oct. 1 or 40 days after August 20, heat units basically stop accumulating for cotton.