Corn is one of the most productive crops of modern agriculture. According to statistical data corn production in Ukraine has tripled during last 10 years. Most of the yield is exported due to poor development of cattle farming and deep processing segments.
One of the leading factors influencing the yield of this crop is mineral nutrition. To form high yield corn needs a balanced supply of macro and micro elements. Priority element of nutrition is nitrogen.
Corn effectively uses residue of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers applied during previous crop growing, although it is phosphorus and potassium that are often found to be in deficit, sometimes with a lack of visual manifestations. Phosphorus deficiency is mostly visible in the phase from 4 to 8 leaves, and potassium - at the beginning of cob formation. To a certain extent, the lack of these two macro-nutrients can be offset by using products from the FITOSTART line, in particular FITOSTART Jet (3 - 4 l / ha) to reduce phosphorus deficiency and FITOSTART Potassium (up to 5 l / ha) to reduce potassium deficiency.
At the same time, the topic of corn nutrition with microelements is frequently neglected. The key microelement for corn plants is zinc, which is extremely essential at the early stages of crop development. Boron is important for increasing plant productivity, keeping beams healthy and improving pollination processes; iron is indispensable for soils of heavy granulometry in dry, hot weather, and manganese is especially relevant in cool weather and excessive moisture (that we’ve been experiencing this May). In order to improve the absorption of nitrogen from the soil during this period it is recommended to do foliar nutrition with ECOLINE Manganese (Chelate) in dose of 1.0 - 1.5 l / ha.
With the development of 6 to 8 leaves corn enters the phase of rapid growth. Formation of male and female inflorescences of the plant continues and they need enhanced supply of nutrition elements. As a rule, at this time, the stress influence of herbicides is detected and plants development may lag. To help the plants to oppose to the stress we recommend to make foliar nutrition with special fertilizers containing easily available amino acids, phytohormones and phosphorus in the form of phosphite. Out of the range of ECOORGANIC fertilizers the following products can be applied: ECOLINE Phosphite (K-AMINO) 1.0 - 2.0 l / ha, GROS Health 1.0 - 2.0 l / ha, ECOLINE Universal Growth (Amino) 1.5 - 2.0 l / ha. If the farm is not equipped to make later applications in the field, boron should be added to the tank mix (0.5 - 1.0 l/ha) to stimulate grain formation and improve pollen quality. If the crops are not in stress, then the foliar nutrition at this stage can be made with the tank mix of ECOLINE Corn (Chelates) 1,5 l / ha + ECOLINE BORON (Premium) 1,0 l / ha.