First Irrigation

Hi there. Sorry about the late post. Busy weekend. Saturday graded papers and cooked for a charity event at a local art museum. Sunday Church and a birthday party for little Persia who is 3 today. I needed to go to work today to get some rest.

OK, back on the farm-

The big question is when to start irrigating the cotton.

If you start too early it can cause the plant to go to all stalk and no bolls. Not good since we get paid for producing bolls.

If you start too late, or the weather heats up real fast- you BBQ the plants. That's not good either. There is a point called the Permanent Wilting Point and it is as bad as it sounds; if they wilt too much it is permanent and that is not good. Little toasted cotton plants don't produce cotton either.

We are big fans of research from the University of California and the California State University system.They do basic research on question s like this. The UC Farm Advisors have actually developed ways to measure the plant and the soil to tell us when it is the perfect time to irrigate. Of course, as with most things, it looks great in the textbook, but how do you translate that into field conditions? So, each June we spend a lot of time checking fields and checking with each other. We calculate how long it will take to get over the fields and look at the weather forecast. Sooner or later it is time to pull the trigger and begin irrigate.

As you can see in the photo above we began the first field last week,after things started to warm up. We will hold off a few days and begin the second field the middle of the week as things warm up some more. Of course, that is after checking the soil moisture and the plants one more time.

I hope y'all have a great week.

P