How to manage sunflowers during the bud stage? These key points you need to know
The sunflower is a rather special flower species, being both an oil crop and one of the main food crops. Its seeds are the sunflower seeds most commonly seen in our daily lives, and as market demand has grown, the sunflower planting area in our country has also become increasingly large. Sunflowers have different growth stages, and each growth period has different management methods. Today, the editor brings you the key management points for sunflowers during the bud stage. Let's take a look!
1. Timely topdressing
Sunflowers have a relatively large demand for nutrients during growth. If they rely only on base fertilizer and seed fertilizer, that is far from enough for sunflower growth. Therefore, timely topdressing is a key measure to ensure normal sunflower growth and increase yield. The nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium requirements of sunflower buds reach 1/3 of the total, so we should topdress in time before the bud stage. If fertilization is too late, the fertilizer effect will drop noticeably. When topdressing, nitrogen fertilizer should be the main type, and attention should be paid to the fertilization position so as not to damage the sunflower roots and prevent fertilizer damage. In the later period, nitrogen fertilizer should be stopped to prevent excessive vegetative growth, which can lead to reduced yield and lower oil content.
2. Rational watering
Sunflowers also have a relatively large water demand, and during the bud stage their demand during the whole growth period almost reaches more than half. During the flower disc formation period, we should water reasonably according to weather changes, soil moisture conditions and sunflower growth. This ensures both increased yield and higher oil content. When watering, furrow irrigation should be the main method; do not irrigate with large amounts of water, to prevent excessive water from causing waterlogging damage to sunflowers and affecting root nutrient absorption. After watering, do a good job of cultivating and loosening the soil to avoid soil compaction and reduce water evaporation.
3. Timely removal of branches
Timely removal of branches is very important for sunflower growth, because if there are too many branches and they are not removed in time, they will consume too many nutrients. This leads to insufficient nutrients in the flower disc, preventing it from expanding, reducing yield and affecting quality. Therefore, in order to concentrate nutrients on the flower disc and promote the expansion of the flower disc and full grains, we should do a good job of branch removal. Try to remove branches as early as possible and do it thoroughly and completely. During the entire bud stage, branches should be removed at least about two times. At the very least, the sunflower plant should have no branches or side branches.
4. Artificial pollination
Sunflowers are cross-pollinated plants, and during pollination they are mainly pollinated by bees and various insects. Therefore, when planting sunflowers, bees should be kept appropriately, or work should be done to attract bees when the pollination time arrives. If there are no bees, then artificial pollination is needed: use tin foil larger than the flower disc, pad it with cotton, then place it on the flower disc and rub it, then pat it onto another flower disc, continuing until all are done. Two adjacent flower discs can also be lightly patted and rubbed "face to face". Pollination should be done around 10 o'clock each day, or after 3 p.m. Artificial pollination can increase the success rate of pollination, reduce the empty grain rate, enhance grain plumpness and increase yield.
The above is a brief introduction to the key management points for sunflowers during the bud stage. Management during the bud stage is very important for sunflower growth. Because management work during this period directly affects the grain quality and yield of sunflowers, everyone must do a good job of management to protect their own planting benefits. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Friends who want to learn more related information, please continue to follow us!