Combatting Stressful Weather Conditions

After the recent months of weather causing wet soil/poor structure, crops attempting to establish or start spring growth will potentially exhibit high levels of stress as they attempt to root in saturated lower horizons of the soil and with challenging structure issues. Combine this with potential future weather issues, such as further rain, or drought and crops will struggle to reach full yield potential. So what can you do to help boost your crop’s health and get them off to the best start this spring?

Before planting

Now is the ideal time to conduct soil sampling, a free service to OMEX customers. Understanding the conditions you’re about to plant in, is vital – especially post such drastic weather conditions. A routine soil sample analysis will look at phosphate, potash, magnesium and pH. It is also possible to include boron, sodium, sulphur, copper and zinc analysis. Assessing the soil structure is also key, dig holes to view the soil profile to gain an understanding of how the structure is holding.

Once you have an understanding of what’s in your soil, you’ll be able to plan for what nutrients are needed for your crop. This can be delivered through a number of methods:

• Suspension Fertiliser – a tailor made, bespoke mix of nutrients and mictronutrients, perfectly mixed so that each droplet contains the complete analysis of nutrients and applied by a team of experienced dedicated contractors

 

• Solution Fertiliser– OMEX solution fertilisers offer the most effective means of accurately placing starter doses of nutrients with 100% solubility in the right place for the emerging seedling.

Whilst growing

Once you’ve got your crop off to the best possible start, keeping an eye on the crop and assessing it through it’s most active growth phase in the spring is equally as important. You can monitor the crop during growth with SAP Analysis – a highly accurate and topical assessment of the true nutritional status of the plant, providing a real-time analysis of what the crop is able to take up from the soil and highlighting any nutrient deficiencies that may potentially restrict growth in the weeks following testing.

Whereas conventional tissue testing reports the level of nutrients in a sample, including those locked up and unavailable for growth in cell walls and storage cells, SAP analysis measures only the actual level of crop nutrients available for plant growth and offers scope for rapid correction of deficiencies with foliar application.

 

Foliar Application

Using a foliar liquid fertiliser is an effective way of getting nutrients directly to the plant when conditions are sub-optimal. Using a foliar fertiliser allows you to:

• Bypass restricted soil conditions, reducing the risk of nutrient deficiency
• Target specific areas, alleviate stress situations and boost growth during critical stages of plant development
• Supply nutrients to plants when soil application is not effective or root damage has occured.

When looking to boost rooting Kickstart is a powerful, foliar applied rooting stimulant which significantly increases the root network of young plants and for a complete foliar boost.

One of the most effective OMEX foliar fertilisers for boosting crop health, especially in times of stress is Bio 20. Bio 20 is an extremely effective stressbuster and you can expect a rapid visual improvement following application to crops under stress. When used as part of a nutrient management programme, Bio 20 helps to create larger harvestable fraction, resulting in higher crop yield. In the trial below, you can clearly see the boosted growth and yield produced following the use of Bio 20.

 

Speak to your local expert

If in doubt, speak to your local technical expert – who will be able to advise the best course of action for your crops. You can find out who your local OMEX contact is, using our helpful postcode locator, here.