Best Time to Step on Peanut Seedlings and Sowing Time for Autumn Peanuts

In our lives, peanuts can be seen everywhere. Peanuts have excellent edible value, so they are deeply loved by people. Nowadays, there are also a great many people growing peanuts, but before planting, many people surely want to know a bit more about them, especially about the sowing time for autumn peanuts and the time to step on peanut seedlings.

When to Step on Peanut Seedlings

Stepping on peanut seedlings is generally done from late July to early August, choosing a sunny afternoon, at about 15:00-16:00 or later, to manually step down the upright peanut plants. This serves four purposes: first, it shortens the distance between the pegs and the ground, promoting the pegs to push into the soil; second, it controls the vigorous growth of the peanuts, saving more nutrients for fruit growth; third, after the peanut plants fall over, the number of leaves receiving light increases, producing more nutrients through photosynthesis; fourth, it enhances root growth and strengthens the peanut's ability to resist cold, waterlogging and pests.

When to Plant Autumn Peanuts

Autumn peanuts are planted in late July. Dig trenches 85 cm wide to form raised beds, with a trench depth of more than 25 cm. On the bed surface, sow double seeds at a row spacing of 20 cm and a hole spacing of about 18 cm. Before sowing, carefully select the seeds, and sow at a uniform depth to ensure a full stand of seedlings.

How to Plant Autumn Peanuts

1. Apply sufficient base fertilizer. When planting autumn peanuts, the first step is to create good geographical conditions, choose fertile soil, plow the land, and apply sufficient base fertilizer to ensure the soil's fertility.

2. Seed selection. Be sure to choose good varieties; varieties are the foundation of high peanut yields. Be sure to choose peanut seeds according to the local climate and soil conditions. After selecting the seeds, soak and sun-dry them to increase the germination rate. Before planting, they can also be mixed with seed coating agents to repel underground pests.

3. Reasonable dense planting. When sowing autumn peanuts, the temperature is relatively high, so reasonable dense planting should be carried out according to the climate. The planting density of peanuts should be appropriately increased, using the wide-row, narrow-plant method.

4. Strengthen peanut management and apply topdressing in a timely manner. After planting peanuts, strengthen their management, water, weed and topdress in a timely manner. Master the rule that fertilization at the seedling stage should be mainly nitrogen fertilizer to better promote peanut growth; later, appropriately apply foliar fertilizer to promote root growth and strong pods.

5. Proper drainage. The early growth stage of autumn peanuts falls in the hot, rainy season, which is then followed by drought, so watering should be carried out according to each growth stage of the peanuts.

Common Peanut Diseases and Their Control

1. Root rot. Improve the soil through land preparation, apply more decomposed organic fertilizer, prevent waterlogging and drain water, and strengthen field management. Mix seeds with 50% carbendazim wettable powder at 0.3% of the seed weight. In the early stage of the disease, spray the whole field with a 1000-fold dilution of 50% carbendazim.

2. Peanut rust. When the rate of diseased plants in the field reaches 10-20%, you may choose a 150-fold dilution of 50% colloidal sulfur, or a 600-800-fold dilution of sodium rust, or an 800-fold dilution of 75% chlorothalonil, or a 1:2:200 Bordeaux mixture (copper sulfate: quicklime: water), or a 3000-5000-fold dilution of 25% triadimefon wettable powder. Spray once every 10 days or so, for 3-4 consecutive sprays. Sodium rust should not be used continuously; it should be alternated with other agents. Each time, spray 60-75 kg of liquid per mu.

3. Stem rot. Before sowing, mix seeds with 50% carbendazim wettable powder (at 0.3-0.5% of the seed weight), or use 0.5 kg of 50% carbendazim wettable powder added to 50-60 kg of water to cold-soak 100 kg of seeds for 24 hours before sowing, with remarkable control results. In the early stage of the disease, choose a 500-600-fold dilution of 50% carbendazim wettable powder or 65% zineb wettable powder, or an 800-fold dilution of 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder for spraying, once every 7 days, for 2-3 consecutive sprays.

Autumn peanuts are generally planted starting in mid-summer each year, and the time to step on peanut seedlings comes roughly after this time. When planting autumn peanuts, the work of fertilizing and watering must be done well, and timely disease control is also very important. Only by doing these well can the growth of the peanuts be ensured.