When is the best time to water peanuts? Analysis of the full flowering period

Peanuts are a very common food in our daily lives. They can be a casual snack while binge-watching soap operas, or one of the ingredients for making delicious dishes. Many people have eaten this food, but only a few have grown it themselves. There is a lot to learn about peanut cultivation; for example, mastering the watering method is the simplest yet most crucial part.

When is the best time to water peanuts

1. Dry seedlings

During the seedling stage of peanuts, the root system is not fully developed, and the water-absorbing roots are not yet complete. If the soil moisture content is relatively high, the oxygen content in the soil will decrease, ultimately leading to yellowed and weak seedlings. Therefore, during the seedling stage, as long as there is enough soil moisture to ensure emergence, avoid watering if possible. If conditions are relatively dry, you can use overhead sprinkling for 3-4 hours.

2. Moist flowering

The flowering stage is when peanuts have the greatest water demand, which benefits flowering. If it is too dry or too wet, the number of flowers will decrease. At the same time, pay attention to the timing of watering. Temperatures are relatively high during this period, and the water used is generally well water, which is quite cold. Be sure to choose morning or evening for watering; otherwise the peanuts will be stressed, causing rotten pegs and rotten pods.

3. Moist pods

During the pod-filling and maturation stage, peanuts do not need a large amount of water. This period is mainly for accumulating dry matter. If watering is needed, the main goal is to nourish the roots and protect the leaves, keeping the soil moist. This period falls in the rainy season, so be sure there is no standing water in the field, to avoid affecting peanut yield.

When is the full flowering period of peanuts

Under normal conditions, the full flowering period of peanuts is from June to August. However, peanuts are one of the crops that can achieve multiple harvests per year. Generally, it takes only about one month from sowing to flowering. When the lateral branches of peanut seedlings grow 2-4 true leaves, the flower buds begin to differentiate. The rosette stage is the period of massive flower bud differentiation, and most of the buds differentiated at this time are effective flowers that can form full pods. From the start of differentiation to flowering, a flower bud generally needs 20-30 days; multi-seeded and pearl-seeded types take shorter, while common types take longer.

Management techniques during the peanut flowering period

1. Intertillage and earthing up

During the flowering and pegging stage of peanuts, carry out deep intertillage together with topdressing, earth up to welcome the pegs, shorten the distance the pegs must travel into the soil, and create a loose soil layer for peg development. Be careful when earthing up to prevent pressing the vines and to prevent loosening or injuring the pegs that have entered the soil. The timing is generally most suitable when individual plants are at full flowering. For vigorously growing plots, combine earthing up with pressing the heart by stepping on the peanut plants, which both helps the pegs enter the soil and prevents excessive growth.

2. Watering and fertilizing

The flowering and pegging stage is the critical water-demand period for peanuts, and they are very sensitive to drought and waterlogging. During this period, water promptly in case of drought and drain promptly in case of waterlogging. This is especially true in the later part of the flowering and pegging stage. Along with watering, apply 30-40 kg per mu of peanut-specific fertilizer, and carry out foliar topdressing at full flowering, spraying evenly 2-3 times in a row with an interval of 5-7 days each time.

3. Disease and pest control

In the middle and late stages of peanut growth, the main focus is preventing peanut leaf spot and brown spot. For control, you can use 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder at 800 times dilution, or 50% carbendazim wettable powder at 800 times dilution for spray control, spraying once every 7-10 days for 2-3 consecutive sprays, which can achieve relatively good control results. The main pests include cotton bollworm, aphids, white grubs, wireworms, etc.

Common peanut diseases and pests and their control methods

1. Stem rot

It generally occurs more often during the seedling stage. Once infected, the leaves turn dark brown, gradually lose water and become dry and rotten, then spread slowly along the petiole to the whole plant. The longer the disease lasts, the more severe the symptoms become, eventually causing the leaves to wither and die.

Control method: The main source of transmission is seeds, which carry the pathogen in. Another cause is severe continuous cropping, which allows pathogens left in the soil from the previous crop to infect our peanuts. You can use carbendazim solution and thiophanate-methyl solution for spray treatment.

2. Peanut rust

Peanut rust first infects the leaves at the bottom. In the early stage of the disease, yellow spots appear on the leaves, and then many yellow halos appear along the leaf edges. When they fully rupture, rust-colored powder is exposed. If the symptoms are severe, the plant will directly wither and die.

Control method: Treat immediately upon discovering the disease. Use a combined spray of chlorothalonil solution and triadimefon solution; the effect is quite good.

Although peanuts are an annual plant, they can achieve two or three harvests per year. So if everyone masters its cultivation techniques, you can combine its growth system with other crops, make full use of field resources, and bring in substantial economic returns.