Cotton Field Maintenance
Field maintenance is the first step to proper cotton production. OSU's Department of Plant and Soil Sciences offers educational resources for field irrigation, fertility, sprayer calibration, and weed control and resistance management.
Irrigation
Cotton water use, also known as evapotranspiration (ET), can be defined as the sum of evaporation and transpiration, and is both crop-species and growth-stage dependent. Evaporation is water loss from plant and soil surfaces. Transpiration means water taken up by roots and is transpired through the stomata in leaves. From planting to square initiation (about 40 days), ET is generally less than 0.1 inch per day.
- Amount of Cotton Evapotranspiration Replacement for Various 120-Acre Center Pivot Irrigation Pumping Capacities and Delivery Efficiencies
- Cotton ET Replacement for 60 Acre Pivot Irrigation Capacities and Efficiencies
- Cotton ET Replacement for 120 Acre Pivot Irrigation Capacities and Efficiencies
- PSS-2409: Cotton Irrigation Requirements
- PSS-2406: Understanding Cotton Irrigation Requirements in Oklahoma
Fertility
The Soil, Water and Forage Analytical Laboratory (SWFAL) was established by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service to provide soil testing, plant, animal waste and water analyses for the State of Oklahoma and anyone who needs agricultural testing services. Each year over 60,000 various samples are submitted for analyses by thousands of farmers, ranchers, homeowners, consultants, governmental agencies and researchers. Interpretations and recommendations are made based on many years' field calibrations conducted in Oklahoma.
- Soil, Water and Forage Analytical Laboratory
- Total Amount of N Delivered from Varying Irrigation Water
- Some areas with high nitrogen concentrations in groundwater need to determine how much nitrogen is being provided through pumping.
Sprayer Calibration
Although technology has taken a lot of the headache out of accurate application, not
all of our operations are of the scale to justify the latest technology. A fair percentage
of pesticide applications still do not include automatic flow control valves and
computer monitors. Bottom line, regardless of what type of sprayer you operate, maintaining
efficiency includes an understanding of how to make accurate pesticide applications.
The most effective way to maintain accurate calibration is to know the facts
Weed Control
Contact herbicides kill primarily by contact with plant tissue. Two requirements for successful contact herbicide use are good plant coverage and an adequate rate (often based on the temperature on the day of application). Many labels on contact herbicide containers will suggest that the chemical be applied on a day when the temperature is above a certain minimum and a higher volume of water be used than would be required for most other herbicides.
- Horseweed Control in No-Till Cotton
- How to Figure Chemical Rates Utilizing Active Ingredients
- PSS-2196: What if Engenia®, FeXapan® or Xtendimax® are not an Option for Cotton Weed Control?
- PSS-2750: Guide to Effective Weed Control
- PSS-2778: Herbicide How-to: Understanding Herbicide Mode of Action
- Soybean and Cotton Herbicide Technology Considerations
- Xtend Cropping Systems Herbicide Labeling and Training
Weed Resistance Management
Resistance occurs when a genetic change allows a population of weeds to survive a herbicide treatment to which the original population was susceptible. Individual plants of weed species that are resistant to a particular herbicide are typically present in untreated populations at very low frequencies.