Simulated Hail Recovery Comparison of Two Varieties of Upland Cotton

In the last fifteen years, great strides have been made in developing new cotton varieties. Varieties have been developed to produce higher yield, better quality and improved stress resistance. These new innovations raise the question if overall physiology of the plant has changed enough to affect established recovery rates of cotton following damage incurred in weather events such as hailstorms. Fifteen simulated damage treatments with 5 levels of fruiting branch removal and 3 levels of leaf removal are applied at three different growth stages during the 2009 growing season at Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Lubbock. Two varieties, one representing traditional, determinant growth characteristics with early fruit set (DP 104B2F) and one representing less determinant growth habit (FM 9160B2F), are utilized in a split-plot design with variety as the main factor and 15 treatments in a completely randomized 3 X 5 factorial with 3 replications. Three different growth stages, R-8, R-12, and R-16, are analyzed separately. Data includes node of first fruiting branch, fruiting nodes, and total nodes at time of treatment; plant height and total nodes at harvest; yield and yield components.