Where some see gin trash, Tom Wedegaertner sees treasure. Cotton Incorporated’s chief cheerleader for cottonseed research and marketing can hardly contain his enthusiasm for the new cotton-based landscaping products now entering the marketplace.
The new product, called GeoSkin, combines leftover cotton from the ginning process with wheat straw and other additives. It’s applied hydraulically through an applicator hose to form a thick honeycomb seal over newly seeded lawns, roadsides and other areas.
The coating adheres to the soil, which enhances moisture retention, provides better seed-to-soil contact and protects the soil against unfavorable conditions, such as wind and rain, during seeding. The product is porous, absorbent, biodegradable and provides a 38:1 carbon-to-nitrogen ratio.
“The cotton-fiber hydromulch allows the soil to stay put so it can absorb an adequate amount of moisture and quickly establish germination—all while adding nutrients to the soil for long-term erosion control,†Wedegaertner explains. The product flows thick and green through an applicator hose. Seed, fertilizer and other soil amendments are applied before the hydromulch, he adds.
Byproducts of the cotton-ginning process create 2.5 million tons of biomass each year. “We’re making good use of something that has basically been considered waste,†Wedegaertner says. “That could one day translate to more overall demand for cotton.â€
A similar high-performance product, HydraCX2, is applied to steep slopes. Both products are produced by Mulch & Seed Innovations in Centre, Ala. The products were developed in cooperation with Cotton Incorporated and the USDA–Agricultural Research Service. For more information about GeoSkin and HydraCX2, including a list of distributors, visit http://mulchandseed.com.Plant Health Additive
Promoting plant health through the use of foliar fungicides has been making headlines for the past several years in corn and soybeans. The latest news flash is the availability of that technology for cotton.Headline fungicide, a pyraclosbrobin, provides protection against diseases, such as anthracnose, Ascochyta blight, Alternaria leaf spot, Cercospora blight and leaf spot, Diplodia boll rot, hard lock, Phoma blight, rust and Stemphyllium leaf spot. Now, Headline is also being promoted as a way to improve yields by protecting cotton plants from stress during the crop’s peak production periods.
Tank mixing with insecticide and a plant regulator application is possible. Headline can be applied by ground spray, aerial application or through a sprinkler irrigation equipment system. Optimal foliar and boll rot disease control comes with the fungicide application prior to the diseases’ development.
The product is also labeled for Rhizoctonia and Pythium seedling diseases with the recommendation of an in-furrow application.
To reduce the potential for resistance to develop, growers are to limit application to 36 fl. oz. per acre per season and are not to make more than two sequential applications before alternating to a fungicide with another mode of action.
