Cotton Planting Condtions for Franklin, VA Last Updated 5-24-18 @ 10:26am.
Rain and Moisture: Possible rain on Saturday but the main day looks like Late Sunday and Monday.
Expectations For Planting in the last part of the planting season In General, the whole month of May is considered the best time to plant. Yields from May 30th are just as good as May 1st. Planting the first week of June will result in the first bloom occuring around the last week of July when using varieties that have the first square on the 5th node. That results in first open bolls by end of September. It should be ready to defoliate by Mid-October. Earlier planted cotton is better if it rains more in July and it is Dry at the end of August so the bolls don't hardlock. The advantages of planting in late may and early June are primarily lower risk of boll shed in dry weather since August has less intense sun and typically milder night temperatures allowing cotton to recover from drought stress better. It also does not have cracked bolls and open bolls during the most intense humidity and tropical weather of late August and September that causes hardlock and poor color. To me, its sort of like the first two weeks of planting have higher highs for yield potential but lower lows as stress in July seems more intense than stress in August. The last two weeks of planting seem to generally avoid some of those awful low yields and often make two bales, but tend to run out of time before they can make three bales.
Management Adjustments for the later planting dates: Sense cotton is heat unit driven the late cotton will develope faster avoiding all cool weather and it has more vigor so cotton planted a month later will actaully only be 2 or 3 weeks behind. And there is not enough time for a top crop or compensation for poor stands. Use these following ideas:
plant earlier lower fruiting and more determinant varieties. PHY 333 has been the best but other good options should include 1614, 300 & 330.
A good stand is more important but with these good moisture conditions, we should have good stands. Be sure to have 43,000 to 45,000 seed per acre or even more if you have any emergence concerns. There is a consensus that really good stands are more important with later planting dates than early.
Reduce nitrogen rate in topdress, also timing, like the early cotton, should be based on crop stage and not the calender. The 8 leaf stage is usually about 6 weeks after planting.
be more Aggressive with Pix and Insects.
3rd week of bloom will not be until mid-August, so you should have a Bifinthrin/Pix application at this time and possibly the last week of August as well.
Related Question: Can I keep planting 1646, 490, 6182. and similar higher fruiting and taller growing varieties? I would say stop on May 25th with these type variety. They can do well planted even later but it requires a warm September to keep risk low with these type of varieties and switching to the earlier varieties will not carry these risks.
The insurance cut-off for Cotton is May 30th. Risk for planting is pretty low through about June 5 or 6th. Planting cotton in the middle of June requires above average heat accumilation (excluding May of course)
Date
Day
Temperatures
Rain
Planting
5-24 & 25
Thur & Fri
Warm
0
Good to Excellent
5-26
Sat
Warm
40% - 0.1"
Excellent
5-27
Sun
Hot
20%-0.3"
Thuderstorm
5-28
Monday
Mild
60% - 0.3"
showers
5-29 to 31
Tuesday to Thursday
warm
50%
dodging rain
Futures
@CT - COTTON #2 - ICEFU
Month
Open
High
Low
Last
Change
Close
Time
More
Jul 18
87.18
87.85
86.64
87.39
0.43
86.96
10:15A
Oct 18
85.71
86.47
85.31
86.45
1.24
85.21
10:15A
Dec 18
84.00
85.50
83.75
85.44
1.39
84.05
10:15A
Mar 19
83.63
85.10
83.43
85.02
1.39
83.63
10:15A
May 19
84.00
85.15
83.75
85.12
1.28
83.84
10:15A
Jul 19
84.63
85.23
84.62
85.23
1.19
84.04
10:14A
Oct 19
81.00
0.06
81.00s
05/23
@S - SOYBEANS - CBOT
Month
Open
High
Low
Last
Change
Close
Time
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Jul 18
1039'6
1050'6
1038'6
1044'0
4'6
1039'2
10:14A
Aug 18
1043'2
1054'4
1042'4
1047'6
4'4
1043'2
10:15A
Sep 18
1045'4
1055'2
1045'0
1050'0
5'0
1045'0
10:15A
Nov 18
1049'2
1059'6
1048'2
1054'2
5'4
1048'6
10:15A
Jan 19
1052'0
1062'4
1051'4
1057'0
5'0
1052'0
10:15A
@W - WHEAT - CBOT
Month
Open
High
Low
Last
Change
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Time
More
Jul 18
531'0
544'2
529'6
542'4
11'4
531'0
10:14A
Sep 18
547'4
560'0
546'4
558'4
10'6
547'6
10:14A
Dec 18
568'0
578'4
566'4
577'0
8'6
568'2
10:14A
@C - CORN - CBOT
Month
Open
High
Low
Last
Change
Close
Time
More
Jul 18
408'2
412'2
408'0
410'2
1'6
408'4
10:14A
Sep 18
417'0
420'6
416'4
418'6
1'4
417'2
10:14A
Dec 18
426'0
429'4
425'4
427'6
1'2
426'4
10:14A
Mar 19
434'0
437'0
433'2
435'0
0'6
434'2
10:14A
May 19
438'0
441'2
437'4
439'4
1'0
438'4
10:14A
My Custom Markets
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High
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Last
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Johnny's Blog
Last 10 days of Planting - Late Cotton does well. First 10 days of Spraying - Acephate IS SAFE, although EC compounds have scorch risk. May 24, 2018 Now we have some pretty weather for at least a couple of days. There is another period of rain chances expected to begin possible the weekend or Monday that will last a good part of next week, although the total rain is supposed to be less than what we just went through and there are no days that they are expecting those torrential rain showers for our area. The biggest problem for about half the area is that the fields are wet. For planting or replanting, we still have about 10 days of the planting season remaining. I would say if you want to get some 85 cent cotton planted, then focus on that task from now until we get to around June 5th. Of course the insurance date for cotton ends completely on May 30th, but cotton physiologically does fine in our area easily when planted through first week of June.
The next priority involves the sprayer and it is important to take care of thrips and resistant ragweed or palmer that has emerged. I have had a few questions about mixing Orthene with Liberty and I can assure you that it is safe to do on Extend varieties as well as Enlist and Stoneville. Orthene does not increase any symptoms over and above what the herbicide would do on its own. Now we do know that this young tender cotton is more susceptible to scorch on hot days than during dry periods. Also, adding EC compounds like Dual or Warrant in any tank mix including heavily surfactant loaded products like PowerMax or Liberty will add leaf scorch risk compared to spraying the Dual alone or using an unloaded product like the old formulations of Roundup. In general, I would like to have 2 to 4 big leaves out on the cotton before adding the Dual or Warrant to the Tank mix as well as spraying Staple. (If leaf scorch risk is high, do not tank mix but spray alone.) This same rule applies for spraying Liberty on PHY 333. This is usually the timing for the second spray after the thrips are already under control. Keep in mind that when resistant weeds are in the field, your first trip needs to have a product that will kill these weeds while small. In conclusion and back to the first point, ‘Johnny says that Orthene does not add any significant burn to Roundup or Liberty’.
DISCLAIMER: The data contained herein is for informational, conversational, and philosophical thinking and is for general purposes only. Ideas expressed apply to the Upper Southeast growing region. Although the information was obtained from various sources, which we believe to be reliable, we do not in any way guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Comments are influenced by past experiences, personal bias and hypothetical speculation by the writer and are not always accurate predictors of future events. Specific references to Agricultural Products and Rates are used for examples and do not reflect specific endorsement or recommendations for use. Always read and follow all label directions and precautions for use. We disclaim any responsibility for any errors or omissions contained herein. FULL DISCLOSURE: There is no compensation received by Johnny to promote any product referenced with in this blog. Johnny is a paid employee of Commonwealth Gin
