Foliar feeding of sunflower at the 3–5 leaf pair stage
With mineral fertilizers sharply more expensive in 2022, farmers' options for applying the calculated fertilizer doses for the planned yield are extremely limited. There is therefore an urgent need for means able to soften the negative effect of a shortage of nutrients (in particular nitrogen) on yield. Sunflower is exactly one of the crops where such an effect can be achieved.
The 3–5 leaf pair stage is key: at this time plants need both effective weed control and correction of mineral nutrition. Sometimes these operations can be done with a tank mixture of crop protection products and fertilizers. However, we warn: before preparing a tank mixture make sure the products are compatible, depending on the chosen sunflower herbicide protection system! At the slightest doubt it is better to separate protection and feeding in time.
The schemes for using special fertilizers made by ECOORGANIC were developed and tested on the crop under different
soil conditions, temperatures, presence or lack of moisture, and possible carry-over of crop protection products applied to the preceding crop and before sowing.
The main tasks of the first foliar feeding are as follows:
- activating plant growth;
- supplying boron;
- suppressing disease agents (fungistatic effect)
Taking into account this year's weather conditions, to supply sunflower plants with boron at the 3–5 leaf pair stage we recommend using ECOLINE Boron (Premium) at 1.0 l/ha. Applying boron together with L-α-amino acids promotes better boron uptake and softens the negative effect of stress factors of various kinds.
On soils with a low fertility level and a high spread of disease agents in the soil, feeding is advisable with the tank mixture ECOLINE Boron (Premium) 1.0 l/ha + GROS Phosphito-NP 1.0–1.5 l/ha to strengthen vegetative growth and hold back disease development.
On carbonate soils of heavy texture and with moisture shortage, sunflower plants may show signs of zinc deficiency. In this case, instead of GROS Phosphito-NP it is advisable to apply ECOLINE Phosphite (K-Zn) at the same dose of 1.0–1.5 l/ha.
If deficiency of other nutrients (manganese, iron, molybdenum, etc.) appears, established visually or from laboratory analysis, the corresponding chelate fertilizers from ECOORGANIC can be used for foliar feeding of sunflower plants.
