The Best Time and Method for Root Cutting in Wheat Explained in Detail

Adopting root cutting measures in wheat production can promote root growth, increase root number and root length, making the root system well developed and the wheat seedlings robust; it can also inhibit ineffective tillering in wheat, enhance the cold resistance of the wheat seedlings so they overwinter safely, shorten the internodes, prevent lodging, and also increase grains per spike and raise yield. So what conditions are needed for root cutting in wheat? How should it be done? Let's take a look.

1. Conditions for increasing yield through root cutting

First, look at the soil conditions. Soil fertility is the foundation of high wheat yield. In fertile soil, the wheat root system and tillers have a strong self-regulating ability; not only are there more tillers and more earing, but the root mass is also significantly more developed than in ordinary wheat fields, with deeper penetration into the soil. Soil suitable for root cutting is of medium fertility or above. Next, look at the wheat seedling conditions. The requirement is robust seedlings with more than 6 leaves on the main stem, more than 5 tillers per plant, and secondary roots reaching 10-15 cm in length. For overly vigorous wheat fields, where the seedlings are more than 30 cm tall, no small tillers occur, and the tillers are also very large, root cutting is not suitable for solving the problems of an excessively large population and overly vigorous wheat seedlings.

2. Time for root cutting

Winter root cutting should begin before overwintering. It is most suitable when the daily average temperature is 8-15, and also promptly in early to mid-November; in southern Shandong it can be as late as the last third of the month, when the wheat's secondary roots have already extended toward the spaces between rows. Root cutting at the greening stage is best done at the beginning of greening or in the early period after greening, that is, from mid-to-late February to early March. Deep cultivation and root cutting at the standing-up stage is best done when standing-up begins, the second spring leaf emerges, and the leaf spacing starts to lengthen, around mid-March.

3. Methods of root cutting

There are many methods of root cutting in wheat: deep hoeing between rows to damage roots, manual deep digging to cut roots, animal-powered deep cultivation to cut roots, and mechanical deep cultivation to cut roots, among others. However, manual deep hoeing and manual deep digging for root cutting involve high labor intensity and low labor efficiency, so they are rarely used. In the past, the commonly used method was animal-powered deep cultivation for root cutting, that is, using animal power to pull a three-tooth cultivator with the rear tooth cultivating deeper than 10 cm; after cultivating, use a bamboo rake to remove the clods pressed on the wheat seedlings and level the cultivation furrows to prevent wind from getting through and soil moisture from dissipating. Wheat root damage should be determined according to soil fertility and seedling stage. Where the soil is fertile, the seedlings are relatively vigorous, and the population is large, the root damage should be heavier, and row-by-row cultivation can be used, with a depth of about 15 cm. Where the soil fertility is ordinary or relatively good, the seedlings are robust, and the population is appropriate, the root damage can be lighter, using skip-row cultivation, with a depth of about 10 cm being suitable.

  The above is an introduction to the time and methods of root cutting in wheat. We hope it can help you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.