How to manage cotton after rain? Strengthening management by category is key

In view of the current complex state of cotton seedling growth, in order to promote balanced growth and enhance staying power, corresponding measures should be taken with guidance by category, management should be strengthened, and efforts should be made to fight disasters and secure a bumper harvest.

1. Seize the season and quickly supplement fertilizer. Applying topdressing quickly is the main contradiction in cotton management, but it must be implemented by category. For cotton that has already flowered and set bolls, apply flower-and-boll fertilizer heavily, with 15 kg of compound fertilizer, 10 kg of urea, and 15 kg of potash fertilizer per mu; for cotton entering the full bud stage, apply 2000-2500 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per mu, or 50 kg of biological organic compound fertilizer, together with 15-20 kg of inorganic compound fertilizer and 15 kg of potash fertilizer; for those with severe fertilizer deficiency, also supplement 10 kg of urea; for cotton that has not yet budded, mainly apply urea or ammonium bicarbonate to promote rapid transformation and upgrading of the cotton seedlings; for those with severe boron deficiency, apply 200-250 g of controlled-release boron per mu as topdressing, and spray 0.2% Sulubor 2-3 times.

2. Break the crust by intertillage and quickly remove weeds. After rain, cotton fields are generally hardened, affecting the development of the cotton root system. First, manually seize the time to hoe deeply and remove weeds; second, large cotton growers with conditions should quickly use machinery for intertillage and earthing up; third, chemical weeding can be carried out by directional spraying in the wide rows of cotton with 10% glyphosate or 20% paraquat, the former at 300-400 ml per mu and the latter at 200-300 ml per mu. For weeds with more than 6 leaves, the dosage may be appropriately increased. After applying this type of herbicide, if drought occurs, never flood irrigate.

3. Prevent excessive growth and pay attention to insect pests. After topdressing cotton, if moderate-intensity rainfall occurs, it is very easy to trigger excessive growth or even rampant growth. When choosing plant growth regulators, delayed-type mepiquat chloride or chlormequat are preferable. At this time, the dosage per mu can be 6-8 ml of mepiquat chloride or 1.5-2 g of chlormequat. It is better to use a small amount multiple times than to blindly increase the dosage. In recent years, some farmers increased the dosage and although they controlled cotton plant height, boll setting dropped sharply. This lesson should be learned. For insect pests, the first and foremost is still mirids, and control should use Miemangchun, 2% emamectin benzoate, 5% fipronil suspension concentrate, and the like.