Virginia:
Pix decisions
By Johnny Parker, Agronomist
Commonwealth Gin, Windsor, Virginia
July 23, 2008 -
The priority for cotton this week continues to be making Pix
decisions. We are now seeing some differences develop in the region
depending on rainfall patterns, soil type, and management systems.
There is also a lot of evidence in some fields that quite a bit of
residual fertilizer was left over from last years crops. I am
seeing some fields that had a pint of Pix on last week when the
cotton was around 36 inches . Now with good moisture it has
continued to grow, and now at 45 inches, looks like it could need as
much as another 1.5 pints. That is one extreme.
Overall, it looks like the good growing
cotton that has had one application needs a second application once
the middles close and the cotton reaches about 38 inches.
There is also a lot of cotton that does not need
this aggressive approach. These are fields that
have
generally had less moisture and on sandier land with heavy blooming
high up in the plant and with a lot of row middle still showing.
Insects continue to remain fairly low. The best way to detect them
is by looking for dirty blooms or spots on bolls. Less than 5% of
the fields seem to be even borderline.
