Thidiazuron is an efficient cytokinin used for tissue culture to better promote plant bud differentiation. Low toxicity to humans and animals, suitable for use as a defoliant for cotton.

Ethephon is a high-quality and high-efficiency plant growth regulator, which has the effects of promoting fruit maturity, stimulating bleeding, and regulating the sex transformation of some plants.

Please check the comparison of advantages and disadvantages of thidiazuron and Ethephon in below.

Thidiazuron: thidiazuron defoliation effect is excellent, but ripening effect as inferior to ethephon, subject to weather conditions greater, reasonable use will work well.

Ethephon: The ripening effect is better, but the defoliation effect is relatively poor! When used on cotton, it can quickly make the bolls crack, the leaves lose water and dry, however there are many disadvantages as follows:

1. The ripening effect of ethephon is good, but the defoliation effect is poor. It causes the leaves to form “dry and not fall”, especially when using mechanical harvesting, the cotton pollution is very serious.

2. When use ethephon to accelerate ripening, it makes cotton plants quickly lose water and die, the top of the cotton young bell also withered, cotton production is much more reduced.

3. If cotton boll opening is not good, when the bolls cracking is easy to form clip shell, reduce harvesting efficiency, especially when mechanical harvesting, it is not clean, will causes the second time harvest, increase harvesting costs.

4. Ethephon will also affect the length of cotton fiber, reduce cotton varieties, easy to form dead flap cotton.

So it’s better that use Thidiazuron to promote defoliate and Ethephon to promote maturity.