Ashburn, GA, (very close to Heaven!) | We plant on 36" rows here, and three seed per foot are PLENTY for most, maybe all, varieties we grow. Some of our full season, more indeterminate varieties (a.k.a. DPL 555) do fine with a five inch spacing. As we move to later plantings, shorter season, more indeterminate varieties (FM 960), we are more likely to shift to a four or less inch spacing. We have a very long growing season, not quite like south Texas, but long. The earliest cotton plantings begin around April 10, and first "killing frost" is usually around Nov 10. We still accumulate decent heat units in October to make a crop many years. Our sandy coastal plain soils match the full season varieties well.
If you are in a shorter growing season latitude, are more likely to have a wet harvest season, and have heavier soils, you may be well advised to have higher plant populations and perhaps tighter row spacing.
Another factor in row spacing is the necessity of in-furrow insecticides. The narrower the row spacing, the higher cost per acre. There are some seed applied products out there that perform satisfactorily in some situations, but none perform with aldicarb in furrow. Aldicarb provides very effective cotrol of thrips and decent suppression of root knot nematode for a few weeks, plus this carbamate itself contributes to improved vigor. |
Cotton - optimal row spacing
