Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T01:26:43.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Effects of some soil conditions on sugar-beet seedling emergence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

P. C. Longden
Affiliation:
Broom's Barn Experimental Station, Higham, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Summary

Seven soil conditioners added to a sandy clay soil at Saxmundham did not benefit sugar-beet seedling emergence in four experiments in 3 years. In microplots at Broom's Barn free draining peat and sandy loam gave consistently more seedlings than limestone loam or flinty loam. In the laboratory, for each of three soil types, emergence was maximal only for a small soil moisture range and decreased rapidly when soils became drier or wetter. This suggests that conditioners which increase water-holding capacity should be tested on sandy loams rather than clay soils and that seed-bed preparation on heavier soils should seek to aerate the soil.

Type
Short Note
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Hammerton, J. L. (1961). Studies of the effects of soil aggregate size on the emergence and growth of beet (Beta vulgaris L.). 1. Seedling emergence. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 56, 213–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodge, C. A. H. (1972). The soils at Saxmundham Experimental Station. Rep. Rothamsted exp. Stn for 1971, Part 2, 143–8.Google Scholar
Hoyt, P. B. (1968). The effect of soil conditioners on the growth of sugar beet in a sandy soil. Expl. Husb. No. 16, 70–2.Google Scholar
Williams, R. J. B. (1967). Experiments with soil conditioners. Rep. Rothamsted exp. Stn for 1966, p. 38.Google Scholar