COTTON (GOSSYPIUM-HIRSUTUM) YIELD RESPONSE TO CULTIVATION TIMING AND FREQUENCY

A four-state study was initiated in 1988 to evaluate the influence of cultivation frequency and initiation on the cotton plant. When cultivations were initiated at 1 or 2 wk after emergence and cultivated weekly at a frequency of zero, one, two, four, or six times, seed cotton yields were not affected on a consistent basis. When averaged over cultivation frequency, seed cotton yields were increased for three of nine year-locations when cultivations were initiated at 2 wk after emergence when compared with 1 wk after emergence. At two locations, when seed cotton yields were averaged over initiation timing, it was shown that only two cultivations were necessary to achieve optimum seed cotton yields.