How to manage cotton during the bud stage? Keeping it steady is the key

Currently, cotton is gradually entering the bud stage. As the saying goes: "For cotton to be high-yielding, steady growth during the bud stage is the foundation." Based on my investigations in the countryside and problems encountered during technical guidance, combined with this year's climate characteristics and cotton growth conditions, I believe that bud-stage management should be based on "simplification, labor saving, high yield, and high efficiency," centered on the word "steady," and measures should be flexible and tailored to the seedlings. The specifics are as follows:

1. Intertillage and earthing up. With the promotion of plastic-film cotton and the use of herbicides, the number of intertillage operations has decreased significantly, but necessary intertillage should still be carried out. Intertillage after rain to break up crusting, especially intertillage and earthing up after the film is removed at the full bud stage (around June 20), is very necessary. At the full bud stage, removing the film first and then carrying out intertillage and earthing up for cotton has obvious effects, such as: promoting deeper root penetration of insect-resistant cotton, improving disease resistance, preventing cotton lodging and late-stage premature senescence, and also making it easier to irrigate during drought and drain during waterlogging.

2. Chemical regulation. After cotton enters the bud stage, excessive vegetative growth control and turning weak seedlings into strong ones can be solved through chemical measures. For cotton sown in mid-April this year and emerging in early May, because temperatures were relatively high after emergence and seedling diseases were mild, the cotton grew relatively vigorously and showed tall, leggy seedlings in the field. For this type of cotton, mepiquat chloride can be sprayed for chemical control, with a dosage of 0.3-0.5 grams per mu before early budding and 0.5-0.8 grams per mu after the peak budding stage, to achieve steady cotton growth. For cotton with delayed sowing and weaker growth, foliar fertilizers containing "amino acids" such as Kunyuan 588 can be sprayed to promote robust and steady growth of cotton seedlings by supplementing nutrients.

3. Coordinating fertilizer and water. For cotton sown late this year and growing weakly, apply seedling-promoting fertilizer early, but the amount must be small, and the urea dosage per mu must not exceed 5 kg. After entering the full bud stage, if the cotton encounters drought, flexible irrigation should also be carried out according to the situation in order to build a good high-yield framework. There are two signs that cotton at the full bud stage needs irrigation: first, around noon the upper leaves of the cotton plant wilt, and by 4 p.m. they still have not recovered; second, the growing point of the cotton plant is level with the second and third expanded leaves or has already protruded. If short-term rain is forecast, fertile cotton fields should be managed so that even if cotton leaves wilt briefly at noon, they should not be irrigated if rain may follow. At the same time, note that irrigation during the bud stage should be light, and after irrigation, timely intertillage should be carried out to preserve soil moisture.

4. Flexible pruning. For cotton fields with a density of 3000-3500 plants per mu, retain 2-3 leaf branches; for densities below 3000 plants, all leaf branches can be retained. Retaining leaf branches not only simplifies cotton pruning and training, but also allows nutrients absorbed by the root system to be diverted through the leaf branches, thereby achieving steady growth. After retaining leaf branches, the tips of the leaf branches should be removed before July 5, and the topping time of the main stem can follow conventional practice.

5. Pest control. To reduce the number of pesticide applications and improve control effectiveness, pesticides should be selected scientifically and used in mixtures during this period, with the focus on controlling blind bugs (mirids), while also controlling cotton aphids, cotton bollworms, and red spider mites. For example, malathion + acetamiprid + emamectin benzoate can be selected, or compound agents such as fenvalerate-malathion or stink bug control formulations like Xifenglie can be used directly. The control threshold for blind bugs is a rate of newly damaged plants in the field reaching 3%-5% and 3-5 insects per 100 plants. Blind bugs have the habit of avoiding strong light and being attracted to weak light, so spraying can be done all day on cloudy days, while on sunny days it should be done before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m.