Tennessee’s 2015 cotton crop has taken advantage of the hot summer and many of our acres will receive the first shot of defoliant in the next two weeks.  Fortunately, this puts the average acre 10-14 days ahead of last year.  With a favorable 10 day forecast on this the 14th day of Sept., the first part of our defoliation window looks very good!   Keep in mind that warmer temperatures generally reduce rates and increase the predictability of the application.  Also, we will likely need less ethephon (especially in the earlier planted acres) compared to last year.  Given the crop is mature and ready to defoliate, making these applications in warmer conditions can result in higher quality at a lower price. Win-win.

As I mentioned last year, know your crop, know your environment/forecast, and use this information to guide your product selection and timing as you move into defoliation. This approach is outlined in detail in our 2015 Mid-South Cotton Defoliation Guide which Dr. Darrin Dodds at Mississippi State University just updated.   To access the guide, click the image above or the included link.  Please keep in mind that this was compiled as a regional guide and should be used in conjunction with your previous experiences.

We sprayed an early defoliation trial on the station today (Monday, 9/14) and I’m currently penciling out locations for county strip trials to be applied wihtin the coming week.  Check back in the next week for trial coordinates and treatment descriptions. Regardless of timing method, slice the uppermost harvestable boll as a timing check.  Some have noted in recent years that this is one of the best ways to time defoliation in our current germplasm, and I tend to agree.