Wheat has long been sown in different regions of the world. High-quality flour and various types of cereals are made from it and used as feed for farm animals. For warm regions, spring varieties of cereals are selected; in cold regions, winter varieties are used. Many people wonder whether it is possible to sow winter wheat in the spring and how the types of cereal differ.
Reasons for wheat not tillering in autumn
Spring and winter cereals have different growing seasons. The first one fully ripens in 3 months (100 days), the second one needs 280-300 days.When sown in autumn, winter plant varieties begin to bush in the fall and continue the process in the spring. If the grain was sown late or the seeds were planted to a considerable depth, the seedlings will grow and develop incorrectly.
Violation of the growing season of plants leads to loss of yield and irrational waste of material and physical resources.
How to deal with it
It is necessary to sow the cereal in time, depending on the weather conditions in the region, to allow the plants to develop and form a tillering node before the cold weather. In the northern regions, the plant is sown in the 1st-2nd ten days of August, in the southern regions - before the first ten days of October.
The seed sowing depth is selected depending on the type of soil, the height of the snow cover in winter, moisture content, and the topography of the site.
Is it possible to sow winter wheat in spring?
There are several reasons why this is not done:
- Lack of harvest in the year of sowing. Since winter species grow more slowly and require a dormant period, plants sown in spring begin to bush intensively, and there is no longer enough time for heading. Plants that have grown green mass will die from frost; to preserve them, it is necessary to mow the ears.
- Mowed sprouts significantly increase the temperature; with thaws in late autumn, there is a threat of damping off of the roots. Crops rot and die.
- Autumn sowing of winter wheat allows the sprouts to become stronger before the growth of weeds; otherwise, harmful plants clog the plantings.
It is impossible to get a good harvest if you do not allow the plant to go through all stages of growth and development. This does not happen if winter varieties are planted in the spring.
Both varieties of wheat are important for humans. Extra-class pasta and various types of cereals (semolina, bulgur, couscous) are produced from durum varieties of spring cereals. Soft winter varieties are used to make flour, animal feed, alcohol, and starch.
