We all recognize that the fruiting habit of the cotton plant is the most complicated of any crop plant. That is because most other crops have rather descrete vegetative and reproductive growth phases. Cotton, on the other hand, grows vegetatively all during its fruiting period. This fact gives cotton its great capability to compensate for losses of squares and bolls due to environment or pest attack. And the ability to compensate has often created the feeling that management of the fruiting cycle was unimportant. However, the compensation ability of the crop is not unlimited. We have to understand the fruiting habit of the plant to appreciate its limits and how to manage them.