Tag: plant stress

As seeding begins to wind down across the Prairies, producers are setting their sights on the next stages of crop production and keeping their collective eye out for factors that can cause stress to vulnerable emerging plants. Stress brought on by weather, soil conditions, moisture (excess or insufficient), insects, diseases and herbicide application can ultimately […]

For the past few years, we have talked about the concept of “antibiotics + vitamins,” referring to what the combination of fungicides and adequate nutrition can achieve for your crops. The right combination is critical for promoting health and fending off diseases and pests, and it all starts with a fungal screening of the seed. […]

Boron (B) plays a key role in a wide range of physiological processes that allow plants to germinate, grow, reproduce and remain healthy. No wonder it’s the first nutrient that plants seek! Boron is critical to the growth of pollen tubes, germination of pollen grains and fertilization, and helps to ensure good grain fill. A […]

Soil salinity can occur naturally or be caused by human activity – continuously irrigating with water that has a high salt concentration, for example. While some crops are tolerant to saline soils, high concentrations of some salts can be toxic to others. Salinity can also affect a plant’s uptake of water and absorption of nutrients. […]

Calcium (Ca) is the backbone of every living organism, including plants. Although a plant’s needs for calcium can be as high as its needs for nitrogen and potassium, it is classified as a secondary nutrient. In this post, we examine the importance of calcium and the factors that can limit its availability to plants. As […]

It has been over a decade since the discovery of how plants take up and re-translocate silica (Si), one of the most abundant elements on earth. Further focus on the element has revealed that it plays an important role in alleviating the effects of biotic and abiotic stress; however, still much remains to be understood. […]

All crops can be sensitive to heat stress, especially during the flowering stage. Even short periods of heat stress during flowering and grain fill can cause substantial yield losses. Flowering, one of the most important stages in a crop’s life cycle, often happens during the hottest days of summer. As the plant is shifting the […]

One of the realities of farming on the Prairies is having to deal with intense and often unpredictable weather, including hail. On average, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta see more severe thunderstorms and hailstorms than any other region in Canada. During peak hail season – the warm months of June through September – Prairie farmers will […]

Just as we find it hard to do our best work when we’re stressed out, crops can suffer from a range of stressful conditions, which can cause poor growth and development, stalling and yield loss. To help crops better tolerate stresses caused by weather, soil conditions, insects, diseases and herbicide application, OMEX has developed Stress […]

As we learned in part one of this series, using primers to encourage strong, deep roots is critical under periods of extended heat and low-moisture. However, it’s also important to continue providing the crop with a proactive nutrition plan, particularly during periods of stress. To continue to support the root system, Dr. Abdel El Hadrami, […]