Tillering is the production of side shoots. It allows you to produce several stems, starting with one original seedling. This provides the formation of dense bundles and many seed heads.
Tillering is a property that many cereal crops possess.
The concept
All cereals have a high number of cultivators (lateral branches). Tillering is an important agronomic trait that simulates future shoots. When grown in isolation, this process is quite dynamic and productive. When growing in conditions of high density, tillering of cereals slows down. In this case, one plant can produce only one cultivator.
Value
Tillering is an opportunity to get the maximum yield. An insufficient number of cultivators will limit the full development of cereals. Excess shoots will consume plant resources and soil moisture. This will also lead to lower yields. The number of small grains will increase.
Thus, tillering helps wild grasses adapt to different environmental conditions. It also allows you to simulate the architecture of plants in various breeding programs.
Types of tillering
There are three main ways to form buds and new shoots:
- Rhizome This is the development of several shoots from one node. They grow perpendicular to the main stem. Located underground. Depth - up to 5 cm. In addition to shoots, each node of the rhizome forms a new root. They prefer light, loose, sandy soils.
- Rykhlokustova. Shoots are located underground. They grow at an acute angle to the main stem. One escape comes from one internode. Such tillering contributes to the formation of a loose bush. Suitable for all types of soils.
- Dense shrub. The nodes are located above the surface of the soil. This provides good aeration and a high level of humidity in the area of the tillering unit. Each node forms shoots on which there is a node. Sprouts are directed up. The bush forms a thick and durable. Plants grow on swampy, fine-grained soils.
Cultivation process
Of all the known types of tillering of cereals, this is the most optimal.
- Take 5-10 typical plants from around the field. Ideally, dig them out rather than pull them up to avoid damage to the roots and leaves.
- For a quick but rough assessment of the correctness of tillering, it is necessary to bend the leaves in the opposite direction from their normal growth.
- Now you need to measure the distance between the nodes from which the leaves grow. From the first to the second node, the distance should be 1 cm. From the second to the third - no more than 2 cm. The node may be below the soil level. But if the depth does not exceed 1 cm, tillering is considered normal.
After such an assessment of all seedlings, measures should be taken to normalize the modeling of future cereals
What to do
When cereal plants obscure each other, the rate of leaf photosynthesis decreases. This affects all stages of plant development, among which there is tillering. Therefore, it is very important to observe the correct distance between the grains when planting. For different types of soils, there are standards. If the distance between the nodes of the plants is less than 1 cm, then it is necessary to destroy the planting. If the distance exceeds 2 cm, then sow should be denser.
There are ways to influence the tillering of already sown fields.
Nitrogen
The additional use of this fertilizer is useful for low numbers of plants and shoots. In addition, nitrogen can suppress excessive branch growth and affect cytokinin production. Current research data shows that the standard nitrogen application rate is from 120 to 150 kg per 1 ha of land.
Phosphorus
The limitation of soil phosphorus leads to a decrease in branching. Acting through the transfer of hormones, it stimulates the production and transport of strigolactone in plants.
Sulfur and Manganese
These substances are very useful in the early stages of plant development. Manganese transports energy for proper photosynthesis. Sulfur catalyzes all enzyme systems of cereal crops.
Hormonal control
A complex system of hormonal interactions controls the formation of branches as a whole. To a large extent, tillering is regulated by signaling by plant hormones: auxin, strigolactone and cytokinin. For hormonal control, it is necessary to implement processes such as biosynthesis, transport, and the breakdown of hormones.