Wheat Suffering Low Temperatures in Spring Needs Timely Potassium Supplementation
To support the spring action on soil testing and formulated fertilization, experts from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences recently went to Gaocheng, Hebei, to conduct a follow-up survey of wheat growth. The survey found that due to low soil temperatures this spring, winter wheat in the region resumed growth 10 days later than in previous years. The first internode of the wheat was longer than in previous years, while the second internode had not yet developed well, and the stems were rather soft. ...
To support the spring action on soil testing and formulated fertilization, experts from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences recently went to Gaocheng, Hebei, to conduct a follow-up survey of wheat growth. The survey found that due to low soil temperatures this spring, winter wheat in the region resumed growth 10 days later than in previous years. The first internode of the wheat was longer than in previous years, while the second internode had not yet developed well, and the stems were rather soft. Winter wheat has 12 to 16 nodes, and the second internode is the key one. Technicians worry that if this continues, once dry and hot weather occurs in June, it could cause large-scale lodging of wheat, seriously affecting wheat yield and quality.
According to further investigation by experts, this phenomenon is fairly common in Gaocheng, Hebei, and farmers across the winter wheat region are advised to attach great importance to it. If emergency measures are taken within a week, this problem can still be alleviated.
The experts proposed the following specific measure: spray 30 kg of 1% potassium nitrate solution on the wheat leaves, and spray again 3 to 5 days after the first application for a better effect. The direct cost of spraying potassium nitrate is about 1 yuan per mu, with low investment and remarkable results. At present, the agricultural administrative department and agricultural technology extension units of Gaocheng, Hebei, have taken action and notified farmers to spray potassium fertilizer according to the recommendations of soil and fertilizer experts.
In response to the problems in wheat growth caused by low temperatures this spring, experts offered the following fertilization suggestions for farmers growing winter wheat in the future: of the potassium fertilizer previously applied all at once as base fertilizer, half can be reserved for application from the late standing stage to the early jointing stage of wheat, mainly by spraying potassium nitrate once, which can replace paclobutrazol (a type of hormone) and also ensure the wheat's nitrogen and potassium needs during this period.