Causes of excessive growth of cotton and its control

The phenomenon of excessive growth of vegetative organs such as stems, branches and leaves of cotton plants, which makes vegetative growth and reproductive growth out of balance, is called overgrowth, commonly known as "crazy growth". The vegetative growth and reproductive growth of cotton are carried out synchronously after budding. If the vegetative growth is too fast and the reproductive growth is inhibited, it will cause bud and boll shedding, and in serious cases, there will be no boll formation.

The reason for overgrowth: mainly due to the application of too much fertilizer and water. The period from budding to the early stage of flowering is the fastest vegetative growth period in cotton life. If the supply of nitrogen fertilizer is too much, it will cause the imbalance of carbon and nitrogen metabolism, which can easily lead to the rapid growth of vegetative organs. In the cotton area of the Yellow River basin, if the amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied at the bud stage is too large, the rainy season comes early or rain occurs after watering, it is very easy to cause cotton to grow too much.

Methods to control overgrowth; reasonable fertilization and irrigation: plastic film cotton under the condition of sufficient base fertilizer, general seedling fertilizer is not applied. In high-yield cotton fields with medium and high fertility, fertilization can no longer be applied at the bud stage. All kinds of cotton fields should be re-applied flower and boll fertilizer at the flower and boll stage. On the basis of sufficient irrigation of soil moisture, no irrigation was needed at the seedling stage, and the first irrigation time was appropriately postponed at the bud stage in order to "squat seedlings". Deep ploughing: cut off part of the root system and inhibit the rapid growth of cotton plants. If the phenomenon of overgrowth is found from bud stage to early flowering stage, the growth can be effectively controlled in a short period of time by ploughing 1216 cm deep near the root on one side of the cotton plant and cutting off part of the root. Systematic chemical control: Ketamine chemical control is an effective measure to control the overgrowth of cotton. Generally speaking, the time of the first chemical control should be controlled at the full bud stage of cotton, the dosage per mu should be controlled at 0.3-0.8 grams per mu, and the whole growth period of cotton should be controlled for 3-4 times, mastering the principle of "light before and heavy after", and should be used flexibly according to the specific conditions such as varieties and local climate. Pruning: when the cotton plant is overgrown, part of the main stem and leaves can be removed to inhibit the vegetative growth of the cotton plant.