1. Growing Cotton

2. Factors to consider when growing a cotton crop.
Cotton is a difficult crop to grow well and requires experienced farmers who pay lots of attention during the season. Cotton growers need to take into consideration a large range of factors to get high yielding, high quality cotton that is water efficient and can be sold for a top price. They must be great planners, innovators, managers and decision makers.

3. Requirements of dryland and irrigated cotton.
Cotton can be grown either as dryland (reliant on rainfall) or as irrigated cotton (requiring supplemented water supply).
Dryland cotton requires:
Full soil moisture profile at the start of the season
Rainfall during the summer months
Long periods of heat with low humidity
Irrigated cotton requires:
A reliable water supply
Irrigation water from rivers/underground

4. Conditions for cotton crop growth.
Cotton does not like water logging. Uniform beds or hills are essential for drainage and good establishment.
At 10 cm depth, soil temperatures need to be 14°C at 9 am (AEST), with increasing air temperatures during the following week. If you plant cotton at soil temperatures below 14°C, the plant will take longer to emerge and be subject to high seedling mortality, slow plant growth and delayed maturity This could also result in the need to replant.
Seeding rate is 12–16 kg/ha with the aim to establish 12 uniform plants per metre..
The majority of cotton in Southern New South Wales and Victoria is planted between the last week of September and the second week of October.