The Latest Tutorial on Seedling-Stage Cultivation and Management Techniques for Sweet Corn

Corn is an important food crop in our country; it can be eaten both as a staple food and as a vegetable, and in recent years more and more people have been growing sweet corn. During the seedling stage of sweet corn, its stems and leaves grow slowly while its root system develops quickly. To cultivate strong seedlings, special attention must be paid during seedling-stage management, so how should sweet corn be managed during the seedling stage? Follow along with the editor to learn more.

1. Check seedlings and fill gaps

During the seedling stage of corn, seedlings should be checked and gaps filled in a timely manner. This is because corn planting quality and soil conditions vary, and after sowing, missing seedlings and broken rows can appear, affecting corn yield and quality. Therefore, checking seedlings and filling gaps is extremely important. When there are many missing seedlings, it is best to fill them in with seeds that have been soaked and sprouted; if there are few missing seedlings, seedlings can be transplanted to fill the gaps. Transplanting should be done on rainy days or on sunny afternoons, and after transplanting, care should be taken promptly to ensure the seedlings survive. Transplanted seedlings should be given extra water and fertilizer as much as possible to shorten the recovery period, so as to achieve strong and uniform seedlings.

2. Thinning and final singling

At the 3-leaf stage of corn, final singling should be carried out in a timely manner, while diseased and pest-damaged seedlings are removed and healthy, strong seedlings are retained. Thinning should be done early, before the seedlings take root; if thinning is too late, the seedlings will compete for water and fertilizer, causing poor root growth and thereby affecting above-ground growth. Final singling should also be done early rather than late. In areas with severe underground pests, the number of thinnings should be appropriately increased and final singling appropriately delayed, but no later than the 6-leaf stage.

3. Intertillage and weeding

Timely intertillage and weeding breaks up soil crusting, loosens the soil, eliminates weeds, promotes the smooth downward growth of corn roots, plays a role in restraining upward growth and promoting downward growth, and lays a foundation for later lodging prevention. Generally, intertillage during the corn seedling stage at 2 chi increases secondary roots by 5-6 compared with no intertillage, increasing yield by about 10%. When intertillage and weeding, also note that shallow cultivation should be done near the seedlings to avoid injuring them.

4. Cultivating strong seedlings

For fields without base fertilizer, seedling fertilizer can be applied at the 5-leaf stage, with 40 kg of NPK compound fertilizer applied per mu. During the seedling stage, zinc sulfate foliar fertilizer can be sprayed, or zinc sulfate can be applied to the roots. For plots with serious size variation among seedlings, extra fertilizer should be applied to the smaller ones. For plots with excessively high density and overly vigorous growth, attention should be paid to preventing lodging.

The above is an introduction to seedling-stage cultivation and management techniques for sweet corn. We hope it helps you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.