Recent storms dropped hail on some fields of cotton in the Coastal
Bend. Deciding what to do with a field of cotton after a hail event is often a
difficult decision yet can also be simple.
Your best option is to avoid going into the field for several days as
cotton will look terrible the day after hail event. If weeds are an issue, give
the cotton some time to recover before herbicides are applied.
So when you do go back
to the field what should one look for?
When looking in a hail-damaged field, examine the plants to see what
percent have a terminal loss and what percent are cut off below the cotyledon
node. Those cut off below the cotyledon node will probably not recover. Those
that do not have a terminal will probably recover but produce a crazy plant
with many branches due to the loss of apical dominance. These plants can
produce cotton but maturity will be delayed and will be subjected to the
problems associated with late cotton, namely, insects, weather, and increased
production cost with low potential returns.
If the survivable
plant population is greater than 20,000 plants per acre, and the stand is
uniform I would keep it. Plants with damaged terminal will develop new
reproductive branches which will set fruit and can reach
80-100% of the pre-hail yield potential.
However, maturity will be delayed and pest and agronomic management must
be adjusted for a late crop.
If the weather turns
favorable after a hail storm event, with timely rainfall events, plant recovery
will be impressive. One reason is the increased root: shoot ratio. Following the hail event, the plant now has a
large relative root system to provide lots of nutrients and water to the
smaller shoot with lower leaf area. The reduced
leaf area and injured leaves is one of the reasons why attempting to foliar
feed hail damaged cotton has not been successful.
There are no miracle
cures that can be sprayed on the fields to increase survival or yields.
The very thing that makes cotton so complicated to manage, being an
indeterminate perennial, gives cotton an advantage over other crops when hit by
hail. Cotton can recover much better from hail damage than corn.
Hail damaged cotton
will produce numerous vegetative branches and hail damaged fields will also act
like and need to be treated like "late cotton." Assuming good growing
conditions following the hail event, a plant growth regulator (mepaquat type
product) will likely be necessary as they have shown to have a beneficial
impact on this type of damaged cotton.. These applications should be made after
the cotton has recovered and branching and square set is occurring. If we do not get the timely rainfall during
the rest of the growing season, the application of mepaquat products may not be
needed.
