Cotton Planting Condtions for Franklin, VA Last Updated 5-22-17 @ 9:00am.
Date
Day
High
Low
Rain
Planting
5-22 to 5-24
Mon - Wed
70's
60's
2"+
Delayed to rain
5-25
Thurs
76
58
ending
Drying begins
5-26
Fri
79
56
Yes
Windy
5-27
Sat
84
65
0
Excellent for early maturing varieties only
A brief period of Rain during mid-day Monday could bring a quarter to a third of an inch. Then all day Tuesday into the night, rainfall will bring guages well over an inch and many could see between 2 to 3 inches before ending with drizzle on Thursday.
Resume cotton planting as fields dry with early maturing Varieties. PHY 333 has proven it can begin blooming 45 to 50 days after planting. I am comfortable planting 333 all of next week. DP1614 would be another variety to consider for this late planting window
Johnny's Blog
Planting in The Fourth Quarter 5-22-17 This week is expected to be a washout based on the current forecast for rainfall. Some farmers still have a good bit of cotton remaining to be planted. So the question of the week is going to be “When is the cutoff for planting cotton?” This question was also asked last year as we probably had half of our cotton that was planted during the fourth week of May and the first week of June. The good yields of the late planted cotton last year gives us confidence that it works. The ultimate success really comes down to two factors. The primary factor is management. Late planted cotton requires use of a variety that will start blooming quickly. 333 has been the best one for this normal late planting window when there is usually enough heat just in a normal year. I think 312 & 1614 should also do well. Another management strategy is to use an aggressive pix philosophy for cotton planted in the second half of the planting window. The second major factor is weather, but we never know when the weather is going to be the most favorable. If it rains in August or around Labor Day and doesn’t frost the first of October, well do well with 333 or 312 planted next week. I am not really sure how late we could plant and still be successful. Generally, cotton planted in the middle of May has a great track record. Cotton planted the first week of May or the last week of May are also very good and pretty equal to the middle of May in terms of success. I put planting the last week of April and the first week of June in the same risk category as April cotton can be good in a cool year or when rainfall is better in July and there is no tropical weather in September. June planted cotton is better in the half of the years that are average or above average temperature and benefit from the later rainfall and tropical weather of September. It seems like we have been on a trend of shifting seasons, and my philosophy is just play the hand you are dealt. Even with a niche variety like PHY 222, if we had to do some replanting in Mid-June or fill in some gaps, it has been working
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