How to increase the number of bolls per hectare

The overall growth and development of the cotton plant follows a typical sigmoid curve.

The transitions betwA relatively slow start during emergence and root growth, followed by an exponential increase in growth rate during canopy formation, flowering and boll development, and finally by a slowing down during the boll maturation phase.

een these successive stages are subtle and not always clearly distinguishable. The growth of the plant and development of bolls depends on the production of dry matter by photosynthesis, and therefore the production of dry matter is the fundamental process of yield.

Nitrogen prolongs the plant’s growth and increases the number of bolls set. Nitrogen can also increase boll size (weight of seed cotton per boll). This effect is relatively smaller than effect on boll number and usually occurs through an increase in individual seed weight at the expense of lint percentage.

Calcium is important for fruiting in cotton. In experiments it has been shown that the fruiting index increases with each increment in added calcium.