Keith Edmisten, Professor of Crop Science & Soil Sciences and Extension Cotton Specialist
Guy Collins, Extension Associate Professor – Cotton
The chart below illustrates how we define planting conditions. We cap DD60’s at a maximum value of 10 for each day. If you are computing DD60 accumulation on your own and a day is predicted to have 15 DD60’s, only use 10 for that day. We also lower the planting conditions by one category if a low of 50 or less or DD60=0 is predicted on day of planting
| Relationship Between Predicted DD-60s and Planting Conditions. | |
| Predicted DD-60 accumulation for five days following planting | Planting conditions |
| 10 or fewer | Very poor |
| 11 to 15 | Marginal |
| 16 to 25 | Adequate |
| 26 to 35 | Good |
| 36-49 | Very good |
| 50 | Excellent |
| Avoid planting cotton if the low temperature is predicted to be below 50°F for either of the two nights following planting or predicted daily DD60’s is near zero for the day of planting. | |
Soil temperature at a 3 inch depth was 56.9 degrees at 7 this morning (April 22). That is below what we would like to see for planting cotton. The soil temperature at 7 on April 21st was 54.5, so hopefully we will see soil temps rising over the next few days.
The DD60s predicted for the 5 days following planting at Rocky Mount are included in the table below. Special thanks to Dr. Sandy Stewart for helping us with a program to help automate the calculations for this chart.
*DD60’s are capped at 10 for any one day.
It is certainly possible to achieve a good stand in marginal conditions. Please consult Strategies for Planting Cotton in Suboptimal Conditions if you decide to plant under marginal conditions.
