Determining Cultivar Maturity Characteristics In the Southwest, Mid-South, and Southeast

Maturity is important in cotton production for several reasons, including choice of planting date or cultivar for late planting, compensation for stress, boll distribution, yield, and fiber quality, and harvest timing. Maturity classification has historically been limited to general measurements of plant height, nodes, and nodes above first square or white flower. By measuring boll distribution, we hope to tie these key indicators into a more comprehensive measure, as well as test the relative maturity rates of multiple cultivars across a wide range of environments throughout the cotton belt.