Cotton Respoonse to Rate and Timing of Urea and ESN Application at Multiple Locations

Soils of Arkansas are inherently low in nitrogen (N) and supplemental N fertilization is required to produce optimum cotton yields.  Arkansas growers typically apply between 90-110 lb of N/acre.  Soil and fertilizer N are subjected to several biogeochemical processes such as leaching and denitrification.  Many growers apply the N fertilizer in two splits to improve N use efficiency.  Environmentally Smart Nitrogen (ESN) is a polymer coated urea which releases N gradually from the fertilizer.  Replicated field experiments were conducted at two to three locations in Arkansas during the 2014 and 2015 to evaluate cotton response to urea and ESN each applied at one or two splits at the rates ranging from 60-110 of total N/acre.  We will present the effect of treatment on seedcotton yield, leaf N, and nodes above the white flower.