How does soil cultivation affect plant root development?
The method of soil cultivation has a direct impact on its compaction, which, in turn, determines the quality of development of the root system of plants.
Vladimir Mirnenko, the brand manager of Pettinger Ukraine, spoke about this on his YouTube channel.
In his study, the specialist compared different methods of tillage (plow, disc cultivator and stubble cultivator), taking samples from the fields from different depths: 10-15 cm, 15-20 cm and 25-30 cm.
Plowing to a depth of 27-30 cm with simultaneous chiseling of harmful compaction to a depth of 45 cm showed an average soil compaction result of 1.18 g/cm³. Recall that for the normal development of the root system of plants, the density index should not exceed 1.45 g/cm3 (optimally - 1.3 g/cm3).
Tillage to a depth of 27-30 cm with the Terria stubble cultivator showed the best result according to the results of the study. Soil compaction is uniform throughout the entire depth of cultivation and averages 1.13 g/cm³.
“The distance between the paws of the stubble cultivator is 29 cm, which allows you to pluck the entire soil profile and there is virtually no difference in the depth of cultivation on the paw or between the paws,” Vladimir emphasized.
The average density of the soil when treated with discolaps is 1.33 g/cm3. At the same time, the density is very uneven and the indicator reaches 1.71 g / cm3.
The distance between the paws of the unit is 70 cm and loosening occurs exactly in the place where it passes (at a depth of 25 cm). At the same time, between the paws, the processing does not exceed a depth of 15-16 cm, where the disk works.
“In the top 10 cm, the density is in the range of 1.1 g/cm³, and this is the soil profile processed by the machine's discs. But if you look at deeper samples - 15-20 cm, you can see the difference in soil density, meanwhile, we got to the place where the paw passed, or to the place between the paws. The situation is even worse at a depth of 25-30 cm, since the paws in the field worked to a depth of 22-25 cm. The problem is that the distance between the paws of this unit is 70 cm and this is quite a lot, because a significant part of the soil remains uncut, unprocessed," the specialist notes.
Despite the fact that during autumn, winter, part of spring this distance between the paws got wet, its density did not change. The soil remains quite hard and not convenient for the development of the root system of plants.
“Units with a large distance between the paws do not allow high-quality, completely preparing the soil. The fable that the distance between the paws will get wet and crumble remains a fable,” summed up Vladimir Mirnenko.