Effect of plant spacing and of apical bud removal period on herbaceous cotton

Abstract

A field trial was undertaken under irrigation conditions on a sandysoil in the county of Boa Ventura, PB, Brazil. The objective of this research was to study the influence of plant spacing and date of plant apical bud removal of the cotton cultivar (Gossypium hirsutum L. r. latifolium Hutch.) CNPA Precoce 1 on commercial and ginning requirements. A factorial (3 x 5) with a randomized block design was used. Plant arrangement used was 1.0 m x 0.2 m, 0.5 m x 0.4 m and 1.7 m x 0.3 m x 0.2 m, both having 50,000 plants/ha and period of apical bud removal 20, 40, 60 and 80 days after seed emergence. Spinkle irrigation was used in the amount of 560 mm of water. The configuration 0.5 m x 0.4 m and 1.7 m x 0.3 m x 0.2 m presented yield 19.34 and 24.88 higher, respectively than the arrangement 1.0 m x 0.2 m. Fiber and seed characters were not affected. However, a significant tendency for a reduction in number of bolls was observed when the apical bud removal was done at periods of 40, 60 and 80 days.