When is the most suitable time to apply growth-control chemicals to spring peanuts

Spring peanuts refers to peanuts sown from “the Beginning of Spring” to “the Beginning of Summer”. They are an early-maturing or medium-early-maturing type of crop and are grown in various parts of China. So when are they sown? When are growth-control chemicals applied?

When are growth-control chemicals applied to spring peanuts?

Spring peanuts are best treated with growth-control chemicals at the pegging stage or when the plant height reaches 30-40 cm. Depending on the need, you can choose chemicals such as paclobutrazol, uniconazole, mepiquat chloride, chlormequat, daminozide, and pyridinol, generally applying them 2-3 times. In addition, manual growth control can also be carried out by treading the seedlings.

When are spring peanuts sown?

The sowing time for spring peanuts differs from region to region:

1. In the spring-autumn double-cropping peanut region of southern China, the suitable sowing period is from February to mid-March; in the spring-summer peanut alternating region of the Yangtze River basin, the suitable sowing period is from March to late April;

2. In the large peanut region of the north and other peanut-producing areas, the suitable sowing period is mostly from late April to early May.

3. Germination temperature for peanuts: the pearl-seeded type and multi-seeded type can germinate above 12°C, while the common type and dragon-born type can only germinate above 15°C, so their sowing period is slightly later.

During the growth period of spring peanuts, if soil fertility is high, temperature is high, and humidity is great, peanuts are prone to excessive vegetative growth, vigorous growth, and premature senescence, which reduces the number of flowers and pods set, makes pod and seed development incomplete, and causes reduced peanut yield. To ensure high and stable peanut yields, we need to promptly carry out growth-control treatment on peanuts showing excessive and vigorous growth, so as to promote peanuts to shift from vegetative growth to reproductive growth as quickly as possible.