Cotton stays open and weedy for weeks before it covers the ground. Hand weeding is expensive. Is there a herbicide safe for kapas?
4 Answers
Cotton is widely spaced and slow to cover the ground, so weeds get a long free run early and weed control cost is high, but there are herbicides registered for cotton that, with inter-cultivation, manage it well. A common plan is a pre-emergence spray such as pendimethalin within 1 to 3 days of sowing on a moist field to stop the early flush, followed by inter-cultivation (hoeing or a bullock or tractor hoe between the wide rows) at 20 to 25 days and again later, which is very effective in cotton because of the row spacing. For directed post-emergence control in the row middles, products like a registered protected spray can be used, but they must be applied as a directed or shielded spray away from the cotton plants, because a non-selective herbicide hitting the crop will damage it. Be very careful with hormone weedicides like 2,4-D nearby, since cotton is highly sensitive to their drift. Use only herbicides registered for cotton, apply directed sprays carefully per label, and confirm with your KVK, because the wrong herbicide or careless spraying can kill the crop.
In Yavatmal I do pendimethalin at sowing then run the bullock hoe between the wide rows twice. The inter-cultivation does most of the work in cotton because of the spacing.
Keep 2,4-D far away from cotton. Even drift from a neighbour twisted my crop one year. Cotton is very sensitive to hormone weedicides.
Any post-emergence spray between rows must be directed away from the cotton plants with a hood. A careless broadcast spray will burn the crop.