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Influence of Mulches on the Growth and Development of Cotton Grown on Verticillium-infested Soil¹

Soil surface mulches of asphalt, asphalt + white paint, cotton burs, and no-mulch or check were compared in a field experiment involving cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) grown on verticillium wilt-infested soil to determine if resulting changes in soil temperature could influence wilt incidence. Mean soil temperature, dry weight of seedling cotton plants, and seed cotton yield at first harvest were significantly reduced by the cotton bur mulch. The mulch from cotton burs, even though associated with a lowered soil temperature, however, was also associated with a lowered wilt incidence in the ‘Deltapine Smooth Leaf’ cultivar. The more wilt-susceptible and earliermaturing cultivar, ‘Rex Smoothleaf,’ gave no mulch response as measured by wilt incidence. Covariance analyses indicated that the yield differences in seed cotton at first harvest were largely a function of differential seedling growth rates as measured by seedling dry weights.

Key Words: Soil temperature • Maturation rate • Covariance • Seedling vigor • Verticillium wilt

² Plant Physiologist, Delta Branch, Mississippi Agr. and For. Exp. Sta., Stoneville, Miss, (formerly Research Assistant, Univ. of Ark.), and Professor of Agronomy, University of Arkansas, respectively.

Received for publication January 3, 1972.