Cotton Defoliation

We should be well on our way to cotton harvest by now, but due to the lateness of our crops, we are just now ready to begin defoliating or removing the leaves from our cotton plants. This field has enough open bolls I will recommend defoliation next Monday.

The cotton we grow in our area is classified as upland cotton. As I was looking at this field I saw an unusual looking plant. This is a stalk of Pima cotton. Pima cotton accounts for only 5% of the cotton grown in the US. It is primarily grown in California with smaller amounts grown in the desert Southwest. Our growing seasons are too short to produce a good crop of Pima cotton, but occasionally a seed of Pima will be mixed in with our upland cottons. Pima cotton is considered a premium cotton, valued for it’s high fiber quality. If you Google the term “Pima cotton” you will see lots of sites devoted to selling clothes made exclusively from Pima cotton and carrying an exclusive price I might add.

Pima sure has some pretty blooms doesn’t it? Keep prepping everyone!