Can corn do without topdressing? Young people in the village apply fertilizer all at once, and the growth looks pretty good

Actually, many farmers growing corn are concerned about this question now. Whether one-time fertilization is feasible isn't up to us to decide, it's up to whoever owns the cornfield. One-time fertilization without topdressing is naturally feasible. But how good the results are is another matter.

How much does one-time fertilization reduce corn yield?

The fertilization method of applying all the fertilizer at once and not topdressing afterward is called "one big blast" by farmers. In fact, corn growers in quite a few places are now using this fertilization method. The main reason is that it saves trouble and labor, and the time saved can be used to work and earn money, which is also quite good.

As a crop, to grow well it naturally cannot do without topdressing, especially a crop like corn, which has a very high fertilizer demand during its later growth stages. Timely topdressing is needed to achieve high corn yields. According to the growth characteristics of corn, generally three topdressings are needed, respectively at the seedling stage, the large trumpet stage, and the early silking stage.

Why is it said that the "one big blast" fertilization method will affect corn yield?

The one big blast method is certainly very convenient, but the biggest impact of the one big blast fertilization method is excess fertility at the corn seedling stage, which easily causes excessive vegetative growth in corn. Then by the middle growth stage of corn, soil fertility declines, and this is exactly the period of vigorous corn growth when the fertilizer requirement is greater than at the seedling stage. If fertilizer cannot keep up at this time, it easily affects corn growth and also affects grain setting in the later stage. Reduced yield is naturally the inevitable result.

How much can the one big blast method reduce corn yield?

Relevant statistics show that using the one big blast fertilization method generally reduces corn yield by about 7% to 8% per mu, which is roughly about 200 jin of corn. But this figure is also very general, and it is not necessarily really the case. Farmers all know that whether the harvest is good depends crucially on heaven. Even if you manage your cornfield very well, if heaven gives no rain during the corn seedling stage and sends you several heavy rainstorms during the corn tasseling stage, then there is no need to say what this year's harvest will be like. No matter how you topdress, a yield reduction is certain. So topdressing does not necessarily mean high yield. Of course, without topdressing there is even less hope of a high yield.

Sometimes it is not a question of how much more money corn topdressing costs, but the key is that it wastes too much time. The young labor force in rural areas has all gone out to earn money, and even in one day they can earn at least around a hundred yuan. Moreover, many young people now tell the elderly at home not to farm anymore because it is too tiring. But most of the elderly are unwilling to give up farming, yet their physical strength cannot keep up with several rounds of topdressing. So many of them also use the one big blast fertilization method.

Rational fertilizer use

Actually, it is not that one-time fertilization has no benefits at all. Choosing the right fertilizer can still reduce the losses from not topdressing later. Generally, at the corn sowing stage, choosing a suitable slow-release fertilizer rather than ordinary NPK compound fertilizer gives quite good results. Many slow-release fertilizers were developed specifically for the problem of one-time fertilization. However, when buying fertilizer, you must buy slow-release fertilizer produced by a regular manufacturer from a regular place.

The above comes from Science Xingnong.