Check the emergence of your maize in time!

Good field emergence ensures that the desired plant density is achieved. In this way an even development of the crop is guaranteed. In the period following sowing, there are unfortunately a number of factors that can drastically disrupt the germination process and field emergence.

Only a timely field check can help identify the cause of poor field attendance.

Timely assess the emergence and early development
As entrepreneurs in arable farming with beets and onions are accustomed, it is very important to assess the field emergence of the maize in time and not to wait until the weeds in the field are controlled. The maize normally emerges within 14 days of sowing. This is not the case on many plots this spring as a result of the low temperatures. For optimal germination and initial development, the soil temperature at sowing depth should be at least 10 degrees Celsius. Sowing the maize under conditions that are too cold gives a chance of poor and slow germination and possible loss due to an infestation of germ and soil fungi. Especially when it remains cold in the period after sowing. When the time between sowing and emergence lasts longer than 10-14 days, the growing point (root/shoot) can be attacked by these fungi. A growing point is much smaller than a pinhead. Due to this small size, the risk of damage is extra high. When the sprout is infested by fungal sprouts, then the emergence of this maize plant has happened. When root branching occurs, the fungal sprout no longer has a chance and the maize plant will develop well. It is so important to pay attention to the temperature and weather forecast in the period around, but especially after sowing! Certainly now that is an extra reason to check the turnout and follow the initial development closely in the coming weeks.

If problems with field emergence are observed, it is important and necessary to make a distinction between turnout problems that occur locally or in full fields.

Spot-wise poor field attendance possible due to:

• Soil problems/structure damage due to, for example, wet spots, compaction and/or driving tracks.
• Large temperature differences on drier, light soils, resulting in too low a germination temperature.
• Differences in water availability in the seedbed (capillarity).
• Bird damage from crows, jackdaws, pigeons, pheasants.
• Wire damage. Wire needles are increasingly being damaged. The risk of damage is high, especially as a result of too slow youth growth due to cold and/or drought and/or an insufficient effect of the anti-wire needles with which the seed has been treated. Very young plants are particularly affected because the budding larvae are small and their jaws or chewing parts do not allow them to chew coarse material. When a plant remains in the germination stage for a long time due to circumstances, the wireworm has longer to take advantage of the still young crop. Only larvae in the third and fourth year of life, so in the last phases just before the actual insect (the longhorn beetle) emerges, are able to eat coarser material. Anyone who has collected a lot of organic material in the field over the years offers a suitable source of nutrition for young wireworms.

Volveld's attendance problems due to:
In principle, there is an unsatisfactory field emergence if more than 20% of the seedlings are missing. The damage picture and the causes can be very diverse:

1. Seeds not found

• Wrong sowing discs used.
• Strippers on the coulter set incorrectly.
• Wrong air pressure.

In all these cases corn seed is left after sowing!

2. Seedlings are missing

• Salt damage (burning) due to inaccurate application of starter fertilizers during row fertilization (wrong setting, blunt, bent fertilizer coulters).

Seed picked by pheasants, pigeons or crows (typical holes in the bottom). Due to the disappearance of Mesurol as a maize seed treatment against bird feeding, KWS successfully introduced the maize seed treatment Initio Bird Protect in 2019. Initio Bird Protect contains an effective bird repellent and all ingredients for a smooth germination. It promotes root health and phosphate uptake and reduces cold stress symptoms. All this results in rapid rapid growth to the 4-6 leaf stage without plant losses. Click here for more information about Initio Bird Protect.

• Damage caused by hoeing and/or weeding (too deep, wrong time).
• Flooding, rotting of the seed in excessively compacted ruts.

• Seeds laid very superficially (more often when sowing in green manure, inaccurate depth control of the coulter).

3. Wave-shaped emergence, irregularly developed seedlings

• Uneven sowing depth (driven too fast, blunt coulters).
• Not level seedbed due to incorrect seedbed preparation.
• Irregular moisture supply in the seedbed (sowing depth insufficient).

4. Seedlings developed very differently

• Seedbed that is too loose, resulting in a poor germ water supply.
• Clumpy seedbed with the 'result' of a disturbed water connection.

• Seeds sown too deeply (deeper than 7 cm).
• Seeds covered, for example by silting up sowing trenches that are too deep.
• Air or oxygen deficiency after clogging and/or flooding.
• Food damage to the seeds by, for example, wireworms, centipedes and/or snails.
• Mold formation (more often with long emergence times after early sowing and no or insufficient protection of disinfectants).
• Long lay time of non-germinated or germinating grains in wet, cold soil.
• Lots of weak double plants and gaps after seed rolling (row speed too high, stubby coulters).

5. Non-germinated seeds, abnormal seedlings

• Unfavorable germination conditions such as drought and/or cold. In 2019 and 2020, this has proved to be a major problem in many places. A good and airy seed bed helps, but cannot change anything if the ambient temperature and thus germination temperature are too low.
• Coarse and clogged seedbed due to a disturbed water connection. The seedlings have to travel a long way before they emerge.
• Interruption of the germination process by a cold wave gives aggressive soil fungi a greater chance.

• Too little sprouting water due to insufficient capillarity of the root bed and/or drought.
• Wrongly stored leftover maize seed from the previous year used (stored under unfavorable temperature and/or humidity). In addition, keep in mind that the maize seed treatment, especially after long-term storage, can have a (very) negative influence on the germination rate.
• Lack of germination capacity of the seed.
• Deficient germination percentage of the seed.

Any problems that may be due to the maize seed can only be checked if one knows which maize seed lot is involved. Therefore always keep the blue labels of the used seed until the end of the season.

The field emergence (emergence of all sown seeds) can be easily checked by randomly fitting 13,3 meters in a row at a number of places in the sown field, counting the number of plants over this distance and multiplying this by 1.000. The loss of plants and/or seeds that have not germinated should not be a problem as long as it is a 'regular irregularity'. The image in which a plant is missing here and there. You should not switch to overseeding or overseeding too quickly because this entails extra costs and it is not said that this is paid back through a higher yield and/or better quality.

Overseeding? For the earliest varieties, choose PAPAGENO or EXELON
If a poor turnout is now observed, overseeding still makes sense. Is overseeding necessary? Then, based on date, choose the very earliest varieties from KWS on all variety lists in the Benelux. These are PAPAGENO and EXELON. The maize varieties are very early and ultra early with FAO 200 and 170 respectively. EXELON is the best choice for sowing now in the north of the Netherlands and the west of Belgium. PAPEGENO is the variety for the other regions. Both varieties have a good initial development (speed of ground cover) and are sturdy. 2 important properties for cultivation in the mentioned regions.

Waiting much longer with overseeding, for example until June, almost always leads to disappointing results.

If in doubt about field emergence or the availability of maize seed from PAPAGENO and EXELON, please consult your regional KWS advisor. You can find his contact details at www.kwsbenelux.com.

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