Stress Reduction: How Can Plant Nutrition Help Stressed Crops?

Just like we can’t function at our best when we’re stressed out, crops can’t grow to their full potential and produce their maximum yields when they’re growing in stressful conditions.

It’s estimated that approximately 60 per cent of cultivated soils have nutrient deficiencies or other issues that create stressful growing conditions. Soil that’s too wet or too dry, cold spring temperatures, cold soil conditions, spring frost like we are seeing in parts of Saskatchewan this year and no pre-burn application are all factors that can lead to stressed-out crops. High performance plant nutrition can help your crop cope with stressful conditions and meet yield goals despite these challenges.

To help pulse crops bounce back from stress, I usually prescribe OMEX’s P3, a foliar with advanced calcium nutrition. Use P3 when applying herbicide to help the crop recover, encourage nodulation and advance maturity at the 1-6 node stage for peas and the 1-9 node stage for lentils and chickpeas.

Ensuring your pulse crops have adequate calcium will go a long way toward reducing crop stress. Calcium is important for both nitrate and phosphorus uptake, it’s involved in controlling enzyme activity and can help boost a plant’s metabolism. It’s also highly important for cell division, cell elongation and cell wall development. Calcium isn’t very mobile in the soil or within plant tissue, so it’s essential that crops receive frequent calcium applications so they can fully utilize the nutrient.

If your canola or cereal crops are under stress, I generally recommend using C3 or NutriBoost. With a high phosphorus analysis, C3 and NutriBoost help provide energy to the crop, increase its metabolism and helps relieve the crop of those early season stress factors.

After an application of C3 or NutriBoost, you can expect to see improved root and shoot development and growth, stronger plants with enhanced coping mechanisms for environmental stressors and quicker rebounding from stress. These products also advance crop maturity by reducing stalls and delays, providing an advantage in yield and quality. Apply C3 or NutriBoost to your cereal crops at the 3-5 leaf stage and to canola at the 1-4 leaf stage.

Both P3, C3 and NutriBoost are formulated with Stress Reliever Technology^TM, which helps offset energy re-allocation during periods of stress. C3 and NutriBoost can also be used in combination with OMEX’s Super B after a hail storm to alleviate tissue damage and help get the crop back on track.

You can help crops perform their best by providing high performance plant nutrition to help crops cope and recover from stressful conditions. Call your OMEX representative today to learn more about how NutriBoost, P3 and C3 can alleviate the stress your crop is facing and preserve yields.