Detailed Explanation of Key Cotton Planting and Management Techniques

We all know that cotton is one of the most important crops, closely tied to people's clothing and warmth. At present, cotton is planted across a wide range of regions in our country, with high yields. So what are the cotton planting and management techniques?

1. Seed selection and sunning

Adapt to local conditions and suit measures to the situation; choose suitable varieties according to soil fertility and your own level of management. In principle, the standard to follow is: varieties that mature early without premature decline, have strong disease resistance, and have good yield potential. Sun the seeds 15 days before sowing. The method is to spread the cotton seeds on a drying mat or dry hard ground and sun them for 3~5 days to break seed dormancy, which can effectively increase the germination rate.

2. Land selection and preparation

The planting soil should be fertile and well aerated. Before planting, plow the land and apply sufficient base fertilizer, and implement soil-testing formula fertilization technology; determine the fertilizer ratio and application amount according to the local soil fertility level and target yield.

3. Sowing

Sowing at the right time is a key measure to ensure steady plant growth and earlier budding and flowering, and it favors early maturity, high quality, and high yield in cotton. Generally, sowing is best when the 5cm soil temperature stably passes 16C, around April 20.

Use a precision seeder. Generally, conventional cotton machine sowing uses 1~1.5kg of seed per mu, and hybrid cotton machine sowing uses 0.6kg per mu. Cotton cotyledons are thick and large, and their ability to push through the soil is poor, so sowing depth is generally kept at 3~4cm. If sown too deep, it is difficult for the seedlings to emerge, the temperature is low, emergence is slow, nutrients are consumed heavily, and the seedlings are weak, which may even cause rotten seeds, rotten sprouts, and missing plants; if sown too shallow, it is easy for the soil to dry out, which can likewise cause missing plants and broken rows.

4. Field management

1. Thinning and final singling

Thin the seedlings when the first true leaf appears, and finalize the stand when 3 true leaves appear.

2. Cultivation and loosening the soil

Especially after rain, cultivate and loosen the soil in time to break up crusting, release soil moisture, and raise temperature, which can effectively suppress the occurrence of seedling diseases. Generally, cultivation depth should not exceed 5cm.

3. Pruning

Bud stage: prune reasonably according to different planting densities. For conventional cotton at about 3000 plants per mu, once fruit branches and leaf branches can be distinguished, remove the leaf branches, but keep the large leaves on the lower part of the main stem; where there are missing plants or broken rows, 1~2 leaf branches may be retained. For cotton fields at 2500~2800 plants per mu, simplified pruning may be adopted, retaining 1~3 leaf branches, which can both make full use of space and promote early boll setting while preventing excessive vegetative growth. Because hybrid cotton has wide row spacing and fewer plants, it may not be pruned, with 3~5 leaf branches reserved.

Flowering and boll stage: conventional cotton may retain 13~14 fruit branches per plant, and hybrid cotton may retain 16~17 fruit branches per plant. Promptly pull out empty plants and snap off empty branches to prevent soil nutrient loss and improve field ventilation and light penetration.

Topping the terminal bud and removing side buds: generally from July 15~20, top the terminal bud when a single plant reaches 14 fruit branches, no later than the Beginning of Autumn. On August 10, remove side buds, wipe off surplus buds, and remove empty branches, striving to achieve full middle bolls in summer and top bolls in autumn.

4. Water and fertilizer management

This should be flexibly controlled according to cotton variety characteristics, growth condition, soil moisture, planting density, and so on. If rain is frequent and rainfall is heavy and the plants grow vigorously, spray earlier at the appropriate time; if the weather is dry and the plants are short, spray later at the appropriate time. Generally, spraying begins at the bud stage in cotton fields, and according to the principle of increasing the dosage from small to large, the amounts of mepiquat chloride used per mu are: 1g at the bud stage, 2g at the full bud stage, 3g at the flowering and boll stage, and 4~5g at the full flowering and boll stage.

To achieve high cotton yields, choosing excellent varieties is very important; in addition, field management is also a crucial task.