05/18/2026
When to move on the replant
Author: Tyson R***r, Cotton & Small Grains Specialist No Comments
I planted my first cotton trial this year on April 13th. That trial protocol specifically requested an early plant date into adverse conditions. But with the temperatures and general lack of rainfall in the forecast through the second and third weeks of April, we continued planting. Here on the 14th day of May, my crew has only a few small and large plot trials remaining before we get to our late-planted trial work, slated for the first week in June. Most fields in the mid-April window have come up to acceptable stands. Some fields planted closer to the first of May- right in front of what I hope was our one and only blackberry winter for 2026- caught both cool temperatures and rainfall events in excess of 1″. A few of those fields have been very slow to emerge, and some are moving to replant those fields now.
I am not universally pushing back against replanting fields planted into that window- I think some likely need a replant- but I would definitely encourage you to dig and inspect seed, particularly on cotton planted in May, before moving forward. I’ve heard several people say if you can’t row your stand 7-10 days after planting, you probably need to replant. I disagree with that statement. While that might be true if planted into warm soils, that is absolutely not true if planted into cool soils. Emergence in cooler conditions takes longer.
As evidence, I would like you to look at the data we collected for a Cotton Incorporated project led by Dr. Keith Edmisten, Dr. Guy Collins, and Mr. Michael Phillips. Cotton Specialists across the belt have conducted this protocol, but I want to get you to focus in on the two red outlined locations. These represent an early (April 22nd) and late (May 22nd) planting conducted by my team here in Tennessee. As you can see by the accumulated DD60s 7, 10, 14 and 21 days after planting, it was quite cool in April; the rating for this planting window was poor. In contrast, the accumulated DD60s 7, 10, 14 and 21 days after planting in our May 22nd plant date (red box at bottom of slide) were at-maximum (in their calculator, only 10 can be accumulated in a given day) and the rating for the planting window was excellent.
But here’s where things get interesting . Take a look at the right side of the table under mean emergence. At 7 days after planting, only 17% of our April plant date had emerged. At 14 days after planting, that number was 77%!
Now take a look at the mean emergence from our May plant date; at 7 days after planting, we only had 22% emergence. At 14 and 21 days after planting, our emergence rate plateaued at 35%. So why was the emergence so poor under ideal temperatures? Rainfall. Several excessive rainfall events after the May 22nd planting date caused saturated soil conditions and rotted seeds.
TAKE HOME
First, if considering replanting, first dig seedlings that have yet to emerge to determine if they remain viable (green tissue, turgor pressure, healthy looking cotyledons). If most of the seed you dig are rotten, don’t expect your stand to improve much. But if you consistently find viable seed, wait until 14 days after your initial plant date to make the replant decision.
Second, understand that excessive rainfall- specifically multiple saturating events- remains the biggest challenge for us in establishing cotton in Tennessee. While cool temperatures are not ideal, cool temperatures are usually not terminal; they just slow growth.
