|
Tenn Valley | Peter, I hope you enjoy seeing how the blooms go from white to pink, pink to red, as your cotton reaches the blooming stage. It takes about 50 days for the bloom to reach a full grown boll. Peak bloom usually occurs about 3 weeks after the first bloom. The first position branches bloom 3 days apart as blooming moves up the plant.
We manipulate the cotton plant to conform to production - because cotton is a perennial plant instead of an annual. Plant growth regulators are used, especially in the Northern part of the cotton production region, to "encourage" the plant to set fruit instead of growing taller. We also apply ethephon to open the bolls instead of allowing them to open naturally. Frost or freeze halts the boll where it is - open, partially open, or not open. In Tenn, it takes about 140 - 160 days from planting seed to cotton fully open for picking - depending how hot & dry the summer was.
| |
|
Cotton Varieties to Corn maturity
