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Some Effects of Field Weathering of Seed Cotton in a Desert Environment¹

We conducted one greenhouse and two field experiments to measure some changes that occur to seed cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) properties when exposed to weathering in the desert environment of the southwestern U. S. In the field studies cotton was machine picked about every 10 days to investigate the effect of weathering. Each harvest was from cotton not previously harvested. Other plots were harvested repeatedly by hand to determine the contribution of late-opened bolls to changes in seed cotton properties. In the greenhouse study open bolls were weathered for 10 weeks and sampled weekly. The bolls were moistened with 0.5 ml water per boll either weekly or twice weekly and compared with an unwatered check to investigate the effect of wetting and drying cycles that occur in the field from rain and dew formation.

Weathering did not result in loss of dry weight of lint or seed. Upper-half-mean-fiber-length was significantly reduced by the 10-week greenhouse weathering period, but fiber fineness and strength were not affected. Weathering in the field resulted in average reductions of 0.8, 0.8, and 1.0% per week for upper-half-mean-length, strength, and fineness, respectively, during October and November. These results show that harvesting late in the fall will not reduce yield if cotton does not drop to the ground, but a reduction in fiber quality can be expected.

Key Words: Lint quality • Fiber strength • Fiber length • Fiber fineness

² Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics; Professor, Department of Soils, Water and Engineering; and Graduate Student and Professor, Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics; University of Arizona, Tucson 85721.

Received for publication March 25, 1972.