More commonly used to reduce the risk of lodging in lush crops, plant growth regulators (PGRs) are also a vital tool to aid root growth and manage tillering in cereal crops.
And this spring, where many crops are struggling after a wet winter, is a good example of when growers will benefit from the correct and tactical use of these products.
“Wheat crops are all over the place this year,” says Dick Neale, technical manager at Hutchinsons.
“Any crops drilled through September and early October can probably be treated as normal in terms of their PGR programme, with a focus on lodging reduction.”
It is often thought that PGRs create more tillers, but this is not the case. Tillers are linked with leaf production and this is linked with thermal time, according to Mr Neale.
If crops are not drilled until November, effectively emerging in December, they have less thermal time to produce leaves and tillers.
Though no amount of growth regulator will increase the number of tillers on a plant, they can be used in conjunction with early nitrogen as a way of maintaining more tillers though to harvest.
Also, if plants have tiller buds that are ready to burst, PGRs can be used to encourage their growth but only if the tiller bud is actually there.
The most effective way to do this is to balance the tillers by suppressing apical dominance and creating more root growth, which PGRs can be used to do when applied early (before growth stage 31).
However, many PGRs can’t be used before growth stage 30, advises Mr Neale, so check approvals on the label.
For barley do the same as with wheat at growth stage 30, but watch out for growth bounce from some products. Then at 31, higher doses of prohexadione or trinexapac-ethyl, but no 3C or Cycocel.
The reason for this is that barley always bounces back from Cycocel and it could induce more lodging using chlormequat.
Mr Neale would then always finish winter barley at growth stage 39 with a 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid-based product.
“At this stage, barley is only at 50% of its final height, so if there is a lot of late-season growth, you could get caught out.”
Straight trinexapac-ethyl should be applied at no more than 100ml/ha to achieve really good manipulation of the tiller population, but this won’t regulate the plant’s stem extension.
At the same time, the plants need a stiff dose of nitrogen to make the tillers grow, push on and balance out.
Mr Neale suggests that he personally would not use chlormequat for the first PGR tiller manipulation application.
Moving on to second-stage application of PGRs, growers should be looking more at growth regulation of stem growth.
“Growers will need to be careful this year, as when late-drilled wheat wakes up, it’s going to go for it,” warns Mr Neale.
It’s highly likely that leaf three could arrive at growth stage 31 and not 32, so growers will need to carefully identify the leaf emerging at growth stage 31.
Using a mixture at growth stage 31 will make sure the plants have good stem strength without over shortening them.
“I would use prohexadione, trinexapac-ethyl, or the mixture with up to 1litre/ha of chlormequat,” he explains.
Using these applications will mean you haven’t overdone it and the PGRs will regulate the plant as intended rather than shorten it.
“Do keep a 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid-based product in the back pocket though, as we can’t be sure what spring growth will do next,” says Mr Neale.
If there is still moisture in the soil and the weather is warm, with long growing days, late crops could take off.
Optional late-season application to tackle an increased risk of root lodging if there is rapid late plant growth in wet soil
However, whatever the spring weather throws up, late-drilled crops are going to have a smaller root plate, warns Mr Neale.
The biggest risk this year will be root lodging and not stem lodging, as soils are already in poor structural condition and could just give way around the supporting roots.
This is where providing the stem with strength will be essential, which is why just a gentle application of PGRs is all that Mr Neale advises this season.
“Don’t wait and see and then be heavy-handed,” he warns. “Plant growth regulators are exactly that – straw shortening is not the primary objective.”
Growers should assess and think about having enough nutrition under the plant to be able to maintain and manage them at the same time.
Plant growth regulators (PGRs) target a plant’s hormonal system and can be used to regulate the development of the plant.
There are a number of different chemical groups that affect plants in different ways and growers always need to check the label before using each product.