A single field experiment was conducted near Marana, AZ, in 1988 to evaluate the effects of both soil - and foliar- applied zinc (Zn) fertilizers on the yield of pima cotton. The soil had a preseason level of 0.6 ppm Zn (DTPA extractable). Treatments included 10 lbs. Zn acre⁻¹ (as ZnSO₄) broadcast incorporated preplant, 0.5 lbs. Zn acre⁻¹ applied as a foliar treatment at early bloom, and a treatment consisting of both the soil and foliar Zn applications. Yield results revealed no differences among any of the treatments in comparison to one another, or the check treatment.

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The energy consumption of 2 alternative tillage systems for continuous cotton production in Arizona were compared to a conventional system. The tests were conducted at the University of Arizona Marana Agricultural Center. Results of the study in a Pima I clay loam soil showed the sundance treatment to have the lowest energy requirement of 39 Hp-hr /ac (73 kW-h/ha); the USM system had the second highest of 58 Hp-hr /ac (107 kW-h/ha). The conventional system required 67 Hp-hr /ac (124 kW- h/ha). Average yields for all 3 systems were not significantly different. A continuation of this study will be conducted to determine long-term effects on energy consumption, yields, and soil compaction.

Cotton was grown in the fourth year of a soil amendment trial that evaluated 4 different soil amendments in 12 treatments on the Safford Agricultural Center. Yields varied from 1,659 to 1,392 pounds of lint per acre but none of the treatments yielded statistically different from the check. The higher yields were seen in the treatments with high and medium rates of soil sulfur, Boligrow, or gypsum, the lower yields were seen in the treatments with low rates of those amendments or with a biological amendment, but the conclusion of the study is that soil amendments did not significantly increase yields on that soil with its EC value of 2.3 dS/m. Crop and fiber quality measurements are reported here.

Experiments were conducted in 1987 and 1988 to determine whether hormonal changes may be involved in the decreases in growth and boll retention commonly referred to as cutout. Nitrogen deficiency decreased the auxin content and growth of fruiting branches. The auxin contents of fruiting branches, squares, and bolls decreased during the season as the plants entered cutout. ABA in bolls increased slightly, but the ABA content of squares and fruiting branches showed no consistent changes. The results indicate that decreases in auxin (IAA) may be involved in cutout.

Four field experiments were conducted in Arizona in 1988 to evaluate the effects of various multiple application treatment combinations of PIX on the growth and development, as well as the lint yields of both upland and pima cotton. Plant height was significantly reduced (P ≤ 0.05) in some FIX treatments in comparison to the checks for short periods of time after the treatment applications. Those effects did not persist, nor did they translate into any significant positive differences among treatments in terms of lint yields for either of the upland or pima experiments.

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No description available.

Phosphate (P) adsorption of 6 agriculturally- important Arizona soils was studied by use of adsorption isotherm experiments and with conventional Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models. Adsorption experiments were conducted at 25°C where each soil was placed in a 10:1 (solution:soil) ratio using 0.01M CaCl₂ as a background solution. Each soil was subjected to 4 levels of inorganic P addition using Ca(H₂PO₄)₂H₂O as the P source. Use of the Langmuir model was significant in all cases (P ≤ 0.05) with r² values ranging from 0.93 to 0.99. Capacity parameter estimates obtained from the models indicated P adsorption potentials of up to 357 lb. acre⁻¹ (818 lb. P₂0₅ acre⁻¹) for the soils studied. Application of the Freundlich model revealed r² values of 0.88 to 0.99 with all models proving to be significant (P ≤ 0.05).

A field study was conducted at the Marana Agricultural Center to evaluate the effectiveness of growth regulators on Deltapine 90 cotton. The Pix treatment yielded significantly higher than the check and any of the other treatments.