Key Techniques for Summer Cotton Cultivation and Management
Summer is the critical period for cotton to build a high-yield framework and shape individual plants with high photosynthetic efficiency. Therefore, field management of cotton should focus on promoting rapid plant development, stable framework formation, healthy growth, and increased branches, nodes, and robust squares. It is necessary to prevent sudden shifts between drought and waterlogging, base efforts on disaster resistance, adapt management to conditions, and implement the following key measures.
1. Preventing waterlogging and reducing disaster damage. The rainy season has now arrived, and waterlogging occurs from time to time. In response, efforts should be based on disaster resistance, with prompt clearing of ditches and improving field drainage to effectively enhance the waterlogging prevention capacity of cotton fields and reduce waterlogging damage.
2. Removing vegetative branches. It is necessary to change the extensive management approach of not pruning hybrid cotton or removing superfluous buds. Except for cotton fields with insufficient density, where robust vegetative branches may be appropriately retained in the direction perpendicular to the wide rows, other cotton fields should remove excess vegetative branches and superfluous buds as soon as possible on sunny days. Retained vegetative branches should also have their growing tips pinched off at the appropriate time.
3. Loosening soil and hilling up around the roots. It is necessary to loosen the soil and remove weeds in a timely manner, break up soil compaction, improve soil aeration, promote root development of cotton seedlings, and accelerate cotton growth. Along with loosening soil and removing weeds, soil should be hilled up around the roots.
4. Controlling insect pests. It is necessary to change the mistaken belief that insect-resistant cotton does not need pest control. For cotton fields with damage from plant bugs, red spider mites, and aphids, pesticides should be sprayed promptly for control to provide assurance for shaping a high-quality population. Close attention should be paid to the occurrence dynamics of cotton bollworm. Whether it is conventional cotton or insect-resistant cotton, as long as the control threshold is reached, pesticides should be applied promptly to reduce damage.
5. Increasing application of fertilizer for plant development and framework building. For cotton fields with insufficient base fertilizer, those not fertilized after transplanting, or those with slow growth and weak seedlings, more fertilizer for plant development and framework building should be applied to promote rapid nutrient conversion, rapid plant development, and rapid framework formation. For cotton fields that have already received base fertilizer and where cotton seedlings are growing normally, fertilizer should be prepared in sufficient quantity, and the first flower and boll fertilizer should be applied promptly after flowering. The mindset of emphasizing nitrogen fertilizer while neglecting potassium fertilizer must be overcome. For cotton fields where potassium fertilizer was not applied in the base fertilizer or was applied in insufficient amount, additional potassium fertilizer should be applied. For cotton fields with wide row spacing and low density, flower and boll fertilizer should be applied early at the appropriate time. In terms of method, furrow application should be adopted. In terms of fertilizer types, nitrogen fertilizer, potassium fertilizer, and organic fertilizer should be applied in combination. The application of high-quality compound fertilizer is encouraged. If boron fertilizer was not applied in the base fertilizer, boron fertilizer should be sprayed in an appropriate amount.
6. Remedial measures according to disaster damage. If cotton lodges due to fierce wind and rain, it should be promptly righted and supported. If cotton fields are flooded by strong wind and rain, drainage and waterlogging reduction should be carried out promptly. If hail disasters injure cotton seedlings, fertilizer should be applied according to the condition of the seedlings to promote growth.