Proper planting and care for sunflower in the open field

The Indians were also engaged in sunflower cultivation, which used sunflower seeds to relieve chest pain and treat fever. In the fields of our country, the culture of the Compositae family is grown mainly for the production of vegetable oil. In this review, we consider the main points of planting, care and technology of agrotechnics when growing plants in open ground.

Sunflower seed planting provides seed planting method. Apply seedling sowing does not make any sense, because the grains are kept spring frosts without risk to the future harvest. Some gardeners living in the northern regions, manage to grow oilseeds with seedlings( seedlings).Seeding is carried out in prepared pots or plastic bottles without a bottom, in order to transfer shoots to the garden of the summer cottage together with the earth clod. This allows you to save a poorly developed root system. If it is damaged, the plant may not settle down in a new place.

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Modern high-oil sunflower varieties are sown when the soil warms up to +10 degrees at a depth of 5 cm.

The sowing date begins in late April or early May. The seeds of highly oily sunflower varieties sprout well and germinate when the soil warms to 8–10 ° C.Sunflower unpretentious to the conditions of cultivation, the temperature up to minus 5 ° just appeared shoots can easily withstand.

The most popular varieties for the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and other regions

Varietal diversity complicates the process of selecting seeds. When buying, you need to focus on the popularity of varieties and climate features. Get a good harvest more chances with proven sunflower varieties. This culture is grown in suburban areas, as in the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and in the southern regions. What sort of plant, decide for yourself.

Tunka

Sunflower Tunka

Hybrid is characterized by high productivity, resistance to drought and disease( white rot, ash rot, fomozom, fomopsis).Not afraid of the plant and weeds( clover).Sunflower mid-ripening period, the growing season lasts 110-120 days. The height of the stem with a basket is 140-150 , see . The variety is recommended for cultivation in steppes and forest-steppe zones.

Jason

Sunflower Jason

A three-line hybrid with a growing season of 100-110 days. The height of the stem reaches 165-170 , see . Strong immunity contributes to resistance to white and gray rot, Phomopsis. Seeds contain a high rate of oil - up to 55%.Productivity makes 39-41 c / hectare.

Sanay

Sunflower Sanay

Dutch breeding hybrid is resistant to herbicides. The peculiarity of the variety is the low requirements for the cultivation of the soil. Technical ripeness occurs through 100-110 days after the emergence of shoots on the ground surface. The content of oils in seeds is about 55%.It is not recommended to sow in the fields where there were flashes of Fomopsis.

Buzuluk

Sunflower Buzuluk

Early ripening variety with a growing season of about 85 days.54% oil. Plant height - up to 168 , see . The variety Buzuluk is stable under different climatic conditions, drought-resistant. This is a sort of intensive direction, it requires high-quality agrotechnology and the use of fertilizers.

Sunflower sowing technology at the

dacha For planting sunflower, you need to select areas with such predecessors: corn, cereals. And from the place where tomatoes were cultivated, beets, legumes should be abandoned.

Seed Preparation

Before planting, sunflower seeds are sorted and soaked in

manganese solution. Before planting, seed material must be properly prepared. The process involves sorting( selection of large healthy seeds) and soaking for 14 hours in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. In order to accelerate germination and obtain friendly shoots, the nuclei are processed with growth biostimulants. Fungicides and insecticides can be added to the solution to increase the resistance of young shoots to diseases and pests.

Soil Preparation

Before sowing a sunflower, you should seriously consider choosing a site for planting. The culture needs the sun, so the place should be well lit and ventilated. An ideal option is considered to be fertile soil with a small amount of clay. However, the plant can adapt to any environment, with the exception of acidic, saline and swampy.

The soil for planting sunflower after grain crops and maize will fit perfectly.

It’s better to prepare the plot at the dacha in the fall, carefully removing all plant residues from it and digging it to the depth of the spade. At the same time with digging mineral fertilizers should be introduced.

Seeding Patterns and Seeding Depth

Let's figure out how to sow sunflower and what is the optimal seeding depth? It is necessary to plant seeds in moist soil to a depth of 6-8 cm. In each nest, should be laid with 2-3 seeds. When planting large varieties of plants, an interval of not less than 1 m is observed; for medium-sized varieties, a distance of 60 cm is considered acceptable. The more space is left between the holes, the larger will be the nuclei of the new crop.

When plants are planted in a row, the distance between them should not be less than 30 cm

Many gardeners are puzzled about how to arrange the planting of sunflower. Some have adapted to plant the plant along the fence( leave 65-75 cm between the holes, at least 30 cm from the fence).True, you need to clarify that the fence should be in the form of a grid, so as not to create shading. As an option, plant a sunflower between the beds of cucumbers or other vegetable crops that get along well with each other ( the square-nesting method of 50x70 cm will do).Planting along a path is no less interesting( distance between holes 70 cm)

Proper care of seedlings and agricultural equipment

In order for the seeds in the baskets to be large, you need to make some efforts:interrow cultivation. Periodic treatments of the plantation to prevent diseases and pests will be a good addition.

Watering rules

Irrigate fields or garden beds with sunflower regularly before forming 4 pairs of leaves on a young shoot. Further watering is carried out as needed. Increase water consumption or increase the regularity of its introduction into the soil should be in the period of development of inflorescences and seed filling.

The sunflower must be watered every day.

The soil is soaked with moisture to the depth of the roots. In hot weather, irrigation is carried out daily. If a prolonged high temperature is established with a low level of air humidity, then watering the beds or fields should be several times a day. This will help form large nuclei.

Dressing

To grow and get a good crop, sunflower needs regular feeding. The first is entered after the formation of the third pair of sheets. Superphosphate is used as fertilizer( 20-40 g per 1 m2).It is scattered on the ground, after which they are buried to a depth of 10 cm and watered.

Mineral and organic fertilizers will help to increase the yield and accelerate the development of sunflowers.

A second feed is made after the basket is formed. At this stage, potash-nitrogen fertilizers are more suitable( a tablespoon of potassium sulfate is added to the bucket of a mullein solution).When seeds ripen, use the same composition.

If blistering deformities appear on the leaves of the plant, and cracking on the stem, this is a signal of boron deficiency. Spraying with boron fertilizer should be carried out.

Pests and Prevention

Non-compliance with the rules of agricultural engineering threatens the harvest. The greatest problems arise in case of detection of the disease. Among the most dangerous, the following fungal infections stand out.

• False mealy dew( peronosporosis) is characterized by the following features: fading leaves, thinning of the stem, white scurf on the lower side of the foliage. If the culture is infected twice in one season, another symptom is added - small oily spots on the leaves. With the development of the fungus in the active phase, the basket is damaged, as a result of which it ceases to develop.
• Often the plants are struck by black spot, , which is recognized by dark necrosis spots, expanding over time to 4-5 cm in size. Other signs indicate infection: numerous cracks in the place of attachment of the stem to the stem, dark spots on the petioles of an elongated shape.
• Gray spot affects almost the entire plant, forming dark spots of angular shape with a gray outline on the leaves, petioles, and stems. Over time, parts of the plant dry up and fall off.
• With bacteriosis, tissues of a plant rot, become covered with mucus. If you do not process the culture, it will wither and dry.

Bacteriosis False Powdery Mildew Gray Spot Black Spot

Fungal diseases are used to control fungal diseases systemic effects: Kruiser, Apron. If a viral infection is detected, the affected plants must be removed from the bed and disposed of.

Insect parasites can also harm crop:

• steppe crickets - attack a plant at the stage of formation of the first leaflets, destroy a growing point;
• weevil - parasites bite off the stem of young shoots, eat seedbed leaves, feed on sprouts that have not yet appeared on the ground surface;
• meadow moths - the larvae are voracious, eat almost completely the leaf part of the culture, destroy the epidermis in baskets and stalks;
• gnawing scoops - insects at the caterpillar stage eat up a stalk at the root zone;
• Maybeetle - parasite larvae damage the plant root system.

Burrowing scoop Weevil The larva of the May beetle Meadow moth Steppe cricket

Insect pests are used insecticides: Akarin, Volley, Agrovertin, Aktellik. It is impossible to delay the treatment, parasites can carry out incurable viral infections.

Harvesting

The harvest of sunflower starts to be harvested when the plant reaches full maturity. Basket and leaves dry up, become brown( brown) color. Mature sunflower seeds accumulate a sufficient amount of oil, the kernels become solid, and the peel acquires a shade appropriate for the variety. Estimated and all planted field as a whole. If the indicator of the remaining plants with yellow petals does not exceed 15%, the harvest time begins.

It is necessary not to overdo the sunflower, otherwise the seeds will spontaneously crumble out of the baskets.

The culture contains minerals and vitamins that are beneficial for the body, and essential oils. It is possible to use sunflower seeds both in the culinary purposes, and medical. When landing on large areas, you can replenish stocks of vegetable oil for the winter. It is absolutely not difficult to master the agrotechnology of growing sunflower.