A method of inhibiting the growth or positively impacting the health of cotton which comprises contacting the cotton plant or the locus thereof with a growth-regulating amount of penoxsulam is provided. Preferably mixtures are used containing a plant growth regulating amount of the compound along with at least one agriculturally acceptable adjuvant or carrier. Suitable adjuvants or carriers should not be phytotoxic to the cotton, particularly at the concentrations employed in applying the compositions for cotton growth regulation, and should not react chemically with the compounds or other composition ingredients. Such mixtures can be designed for application directly to cotton or their locus or can be concentrates or formulations that are normally diluted with additional carriers and adjuvants before application. They can be solids, such as, for example, dusts, granules, water-dispersible granules, or wettable powders, or liquids, such as, for example, emulsifiable concentrates, solutions, emulsions or suspensions.