The soil temperatures at all planting dates varied between 17
to 20 ◦C and then continued to rise between 26 and 28 ◦C over
time (Fig. 2). The soil temperature under the control and sprayon treatment was similar, while the temperature under the film
was consistently greater for all planting dates until the film was slit.
Thereafter, soil temperature in all treatments coincided (Fig. 2). The
minimum soil temperatures were elevated between 0.5 to 1.3 ◦C
under the film compared with the control or spray-on (Table 2).
Soil water potentials varied under all treatments up to the time
that the film was slit, with soil water potential lower under the film
under the first and second planting and the bare lower under the
third planting (Fig. 3). After the film was slit the soil water potential
under the film was higher than the other treatments under planting
1 (Fig. 3a) and lower under planting 2 and 3 (Fig. 3b,c). Over the
period of measurement the soil water potential was greater under
the film and spray-on for the first and second planting and lower
for the third planting date (Table 2).
A similar number of plants established (5, 8, 6.3 and
6.6 plants/m) under all treatments for the first planting with a
higher establishment under film (13.6 plants/m) with the second
planting with similar numbers (10.6 and 11.1 plants/m) establish-ing from the control and spray-on for the third planting (Table 4)
compared with the other treatments. There was no statistical significant difference between treatments in lint yield or the fibre quality
parameters of length and strength, while micronaire was significantly greater (4.9 and 4.67) with the thin film compared to the
control and spray-on at planting 1 and the spray-on at planting 3
(Table 4).