1. The Impact of Planting Date on Fiber and Yarn Quality
Gayle Davidonis USDA-ARS-SRRC New Orleans, LA
Devron Thibodeaux USDA-ARS-SAA Clemson, SC
Ernest Clawson LSU Ag Center St Joseph, LA
Donald Boquet LSU Ag Center Winnsboro, LA

2. Introduction
With interest in double cropping and selection of an optimum planting date for yield and quality, periodically planting date studies are initiated to determine if optimum planting date can be shifted.
In most studies micronaire decreased with lateness of planting.

3. Objective To ascertain the effects of planting date on fiber and
yarn properties.
Genotypes were selected that were characterized by
specific fiber properties.

4. Cultivar Characteristics
DP444 B/R
DP555 B/R
Deltapearl
FM960 B/R
PSC355
PHY410 R
ST4892 B/R
ST5599 B/R
low micronaire
high short fiber content, low uniformity ratio.
long fiber
high strength, small perimeter
high strength, larger perimeter
high micronaire
mid range properties but tends to be high micronaire

5. Materials and Methods
Cultivars grown at LSU facilities in Winnsboro and St. Joseph, LA 2004 and 2005.
Randomized complete block design with four replications.
Four planting dates each year, early April and late April, early May and late May.
Plants in Winnsboro were irrigated.

6. Cotton was sequently harvested on three or four dates each year with a two row picker.
Cotton was ginned on a 20 saw gin with no lint cleaning.
HVI analysis was done at LSU, Baton Rouge
AFIS Pro analysis was done at Cotton Incorporated.
Two replications from each treatment were processed into yarn. Mini-spinning was done at the ARS facility at
Clemson.
Yarn tests were done at SRRC.

7. Table 1. UpperHalf Mean Length (mm) Winnsboro
Cultivar
Planting Date
4/5/04
4/28/04
5/6/04
5/27/04
4/5/05
4/25/05
5/5/05
5/25/05
DP444B/R
28.9 a*
28.6 ab
28.2 b
28.9 a
27.3 d
27.5 cd
28.1 bc
DP555B/R
29.1 a
28.4 bc
27.9 cd
28.6 b
26.8 de
26.7 e
27.4 d
Deltapearl
29.5 a
29.7 a
30.1 a
28.7 b
28.4 b
28.9 b
FM960B/R
29.3 a
28.7 a
28.8 a
26.9 c
27.2 c
27.9 b
PSC355
28.4 a
27.4 b
PHY410R
28.2 a
29.7 b
27.6 b
ST4892B/R
27.9 a
27.0 b
26.5 b
26.7 b
27.7 a
ST5599B/R
28.1 b
28.2 ab
28.4 ab
27.4 c
27.6 bc
*Means followed by the same letter within a row are not statistically different at the 0.05 probability level.

8. Table 2. Short fiber content (%) Winnsboro
Cultivar
Planting Date
4/5/04
4/28/04
5/6/04
5/27/04
4/5/05
4/25/05
5/5/05
5/25/05
DP444B/R
4.6 d*
5.2 cd
5.8 bc
5.7 c
6.3 abc
7.0 a
6.9 a
6.7 ab
DP555B/R
6.0 e
6.1 de
7.0 cd
7.7 bc
8.4 b
9.8 a
9.5 a
8.3 b
Deltapearl
5.4 de
5.3 e
6.2 cd
5.6 de
7.2 ab
8.0 a
6.6 bc
FM960B/R
4.6 d
5.0 cd
5.8 c
5.9 c
6.8 b
7.8 a
7.6 a
6.9 b
PSC355
3.5 b
3.4 b
4.1 b
4.2 b
6.0 a
5.5 a
5.1 a
5.2 a
PHY410R
3.6 c
4.0 bc
5.8 a
4.4 b
4.5 b
ST4892B/R
4.0 b
4.6 b
4.8 b
5.5 ab
5.8 ab
ST5599BR
6.8 a
5.6 b
5.9 b
6.3 ab
6.7 a
7.2 a
*Means followed by the same letter within a row are not statistically different at the 0.05 probability level.

9. Table 3. St. Joseph length and short fiber content
Cultivar
UHML
SFC %
4/5/04
5/27/04
4/8/05
5/27/05
DP444B/R
28.9 a*
29.2 a
28.9 a
29.1 a
5.9 a
6.4 a
6.6 a
DP555B/R
29.4 a
29.3 a
28.4 b
28.2 b
8.7 ab
8.2 b
9.5 a
Deltapearl
30.3 a
30.2 a
29.5 b
7.5 b
8.4 a
6.0 c
FM960B/R
29.2 ab
29.5 a
28.7 b
PSC355 -
5.5 b
PHY410R
29.7 a
28.8 b
28.9 ab
4.8 a
5.2 a
5.3 a
5.5 a
ST4892B/R
28.7 a
5.2 ab
5.7 a
4.6 ab
5.4 ab
ST5599B/R
28.8 a
6.9 b
8.5 a
6.3 b
7.2 b
*Means followed by the same letter within a row and within the same fiber property are not statistically different at the probability level.

10. Table 4. Micronaire Cultivar Planting Date Winnsboro ST Joseph 4/5/04
5/27/04
4/5/05
5/25/05
4/8/05
5/27/05
DP444B/R
4.5 a*
4.0 b
4.5 a
4.4 a
DP555B/R
4.9 a
4.2 c
4.6 b
4.7 ab
4.3 c
4.8 ab
4.1 c
Deltapearl
5.1 a
4.4 d
4.7 bc
4.8 b
4.6 cd
FM960B/R
4.6 ab
4.5 b
4.8 a
PSC355
5.2 a
4.8 bc
4.3 d
4.7 c
5.0 ab -
PHY410R
4.5 cd
4.9 ab
ST4892B/R
4.7 b
5.0 a
ST5599B/R
4.4 bc
*Means followed by the same letter within a row are not statistically different at the 0.05 probability level.

11. Table 5. Bundle Strength (g/tex) Winnsboro
Cultivar
Planting Date
4/5/04
4/28/04
5/6/04
5/27/04
4/5/05
4/25/05
5/5/05
5/25/05
DP444B/R
29.7 a*
28.9 ab
29.9 a
29.7 a
26.1 c
27.8 b
DP555B/R
28.8 ab
29.0 ab
28.0 bc
24.3 e
23.9 e
25.2 e
27.4 cd
Deltapearl
30.2 a
30.6 a
30.3 a
26.5 c
26.9 c
27.4 c
28.5 b
FM960B/R
32.7 ab
31.8 b
33.6 a
27.9 c
27.7 c
29.0 c
31.7 b
PSC355
33.1 a
32.3 a
33.0 a
32.2 a
30.1 b
31.8 a
PHY410R
32.4 a
31.8 ab
32.0 ab
30.6 bc
29.9 cd
29.0 d
30.9 bc
31.5 ab
ST4892B/R
30.4 ab
30.2 ab
31.4 a
31.0 a
26.5 d
25.9 d
28.3 c
29.5 bc
ST5599B/R
29.8 a
26.4 c
26.3 c
27.9 bc
29.3 a
*Means followed by the same letter within a row are not statistically different at the 0.05 probability level.

12. The prediction of yarn quality has involved numerous fiber properties.
First tier Strength, Elongation, Fineness
Second tier Length, Length uniformity, Short fiber content

13. Table A. Comparisons across cultivars
Early Planting Date (4/8/05)
St Joseph, LA
Cultivar
Property
FM960B/R
Deltapearl
PHY410R
Yarn Ten, cN/tex
18.1 a
16.1 b
16.3 b
Skein CSP, N
224 a
211 a
191 b
Fiber STR, g/tex
31.3 a
30.7 a
31.7 a
PERM, µm
51.5 a
52.2 a
53.8 b
FIN, millitex
178.4 b
184.1 b
189.5 a
Micronaire
4.8 a
4.9 a
UHML, mm
28.4 b
30.0 a
28.7 b
LWCV, %
31.6 a
31.1 a
28.2 b
SFCW, %
5.9 a
6.1 a
4.6 b
* Means followed by the same letter within a row are not statistically different at the 0.05 probability level.

14. Table B. Comparisons across cultivars
Early Planting Date (4/8/05)
St Joseph, LA
Cultivar
Property
DP444B/R
DP555B/R
ST5599B/R
Yarn Ten, cN/tex
16.7 a*
14.8 b
15.7 ab
Skein CSP, N
206 a
181 a
192 a
Fiber STR, g/tex
28.6 a
28.3 a
28.7 a
PERM, µm
51.8 b
53.2 a
FIN, millitex
174.1 b
175.6 b
187.9 a
Micronaire
4.5 b
4.8 a
UHML, mm
28.2 a
28.9 a
LWCV, %
31.3 b
34.1 a
32.2 ab
SFCW, %
6.4 b
8.6 a
7.2 ab
* Means followed by the same letter within a row are not statistically different at the 0.05 probability level.

16. Winnsboro 2004 and St. Joseph 2005
No decrease in yarn tenacity occurred with lateness of planting.
Low HVI bundle strength was not related to low yarn tenacity for FM960 B/R, DP555 B/R, PSC355, PHY410 R, ST5599 B/R.
No HVI bundle strength changes across planting dates were found for Deltapearl, DP444 B/R.
Low HVI bundle strength was related to low yarn tenacity for ST4892 B/R in Winnsboro 2004 but not St. Joseph 2005.

17. Winnsboro 2005
No decrease in yarn tenacity occurred with lateness of planting.
Low HVI bundle strength was related to low yarn tenacity for PHY410 R, ST4892 B/R and ST5599 B/R.
Low strength was not related to low yarn tenacity for FM960 B/R, DP444 B/R, PSC355 and DP555 B/R.
No strength changes were found for Deltapearl.

18. Table 6. Fiber and Yarn properties for high strength cottons Winnsboro
Property
FM960B/R
Yarn TEN
cN/tex
STR
g/tex
UHML mm
FIN
millitex
MIC
PERM μm
4/28/04
17.9 ab*
32.0 ab
28.9 a
180.6 c
4.6 b
52.1 bc
5/27/04
18.7 a
30.2 b
28.7 ab
166.6 d
4.1 c
51.1 c
4/25/05
17.6 ab
27.7 c
26.9 d
175.4 cd
51.9 bc
5/27/05
18.0 a
31.6 ab
27.7 cd
168.9 d
4.2 c
PSC355
18.3 a
32.6 a
203.6 a
5.3 a
55.0 a
17.0 ab
30.6 ab
28.4 abc
175.6 cd
4.7 b
52.6 b
16.1 b
30.3 ab
27.4 d
196.4 ab
4.9 ab
54.5 a
17.4 ab
32.4ab
27.8 bcd
191.9b
4.8b
54.1 a
*Means followed by the same letter within a column are not statistically different at the 0.05 probability level.

19. Table 7. Fiber and Yarn Properties for Deltapearl Winnsboro
Planting Date
Yarn TEN
cN/tex
STR
g/tex
UHML mm
FIN
millitex
MIC
PERM μm
4/5/04
17.4 ab*
31.1 a
29.7 ab
193.1 a
5.2 a
53.3 a
4/28/04
16.4 b
29.9 ab
186.1 ab
5.0 ab
52.6 abc
5/5/04
16.6 b
31.3 a
29.5 abc
4.8 abc
52.9 ab
5/27/05
17.3 ab
30.2 a
174.1 bc
4.4 d
51.8 cd
4/5/05
17.5 ab
27.2 c
28.9 bc
175.4 c
4.3 d
51.7 cd
4/25/05
16.7 b
27.5 c
28.7 bc
171.4 c
51.5d
5/5/05
16.0 b
27.8 bc
28.4 c
179.1 bc
4.6 cd
52.2 bcd
19.0 a
29.2 bc
177.9 bc
4.8 bc
52.0 bcd
*Means followed by the same letter within a column are not statistically different at the
0.05 probability level.

20. Conclusions
Early planting for high micronaire cultivars did not result in lower micronaire values.
Yarn tenacity did not deteriorate with lateness of planting for all cultivars.
Fiber packages impact yarn tenacity. Mean yarn tenacity and perimeter across all years, planting dates and locations was similar for Deltapearl and DP444 B/R. Although Deltapearl had stronger and longer fiber, DP444 B/R had greater length uniformity, lower fineness and lower micronaire values.