How to properly water winter wheat for overwintering? The latest tips are here
As the temperature gradually turns cooler, winter wheat has now been sown in most areas, and shortly after the winter wheat emerges, farmers will begin watering the overwintering water. Many people are curious about the role of this overwintering water. Let's learn about it together with the editor below.
1. The role of watering overwintering water on wheat
1. Watering overwintering water on wheat can give the wheat sufficient moisture during the overwintering period. It is greatly beneficial for pre-winter tillering and for promoting new tillers, and it can serve the purpose of using winter water for spring and preventing spring drought
2. Watering overwintering water can also improve the thermal conductivity of the soil and reduce the range of temperature variation in the field, so as to prevent winter wheat seedlings from freezing to death due to drastic temperature changes.
3. Irrigating with overwintering water can also settle the soil, fill soil cracks, and eliminate overwintering pathogens and pests hidden within them. It is beneficial for tillering and also reduces the base number of pests and diseases.
4. For saline-alkali land, it can alleviate soil salinization and protect seedlings. It can also promote microbial activity, and together with fertilizer decomposition, it can promote wheat growth after greening.
2. How to water according to temperature
The temperature for irrigating winter wheat with freezing water is a daily average temperature of about 3°C. If irrigation is too early, the soil is likely to become compacted, and after overwintering the soil moisture will be clearly insufficient; if irrigation is too late, water is not easy to infiltrate, which will cause the surface to freeze and cause frost damage to wheat seedlings. Therefore, timely irrigation is extremely important. According to experiments, if winter irrigation is done at a daily average temperature of 0-1.5°C, the ground will freeze and seedlings will die, while it is most suitable to start when the average temperature drops to 7-8°C and finish irrigation at about 3°C.
3. Precautions
When watering wheat with freezing water, one should look at the sky, the land, and the seedlings. First, irrigation has the best effect in years with scarce autumn rain and cold, dry winters. It should be carried out when the daily average temperature is stable at about 3°C. If it is too early, the temperature is relatively high and evaporation is large, so it cannot play the role of storing water and preserving moisture, and it may also cause excessive growth of wheat seedlings; if it is too late, the temperature is relatively low, which can cause water accumulation on the ground to freeze. When soil moisture is insufficient, the ground temperature is relatively low, and flood irrigation is not suitable; otherwise, it will cause wheat seedlings to turn red, turn yellow, or even die. Early-sown winter wheat with vigorous seedlings generally has better subsoil moisture, so irrigation can be delayed or omitted. In order to prevent flood irrigation from causing scouring, pressure, and silting that damage wheat seedlings, after irrigation, loosen the soil by hoeing to prevent compaction and cracking that let in air and damage roots or kill seedlings.
The above is an introduction to how to properly water wheat for overwintering. I hope it can help you. If you want to learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.