Abstract:

In order to study the warming effect of different plastic film mulching methods on early spring corn in Wuhan, ensure safe sowing and increase yield per unit, a comparative observation experiment was conducted on three covering methods with ‘Etianyu No5’ as test material in Hannan District of Wuhan, including open field sowing, single-layer plastic film covering, and single-layer plastic film + small arch shed. The results showed that plastic film covering significantly increased the ground temperature by 10 cm, increased the effective accumulated temperature by 9.9%-22.1% compared to open field sowing, shortened the entire growth period by 5-13 days, and increased the seedling emergence rate by 20%-30%. Among them, the warming effect of plastic film + small arch shed treatment is the most significant, and the effect of promoting early market is the best; the open field sowing method is not suitable for promotion due to the high risk of low temperature and cold damage during the sowing period. Under the methods of plastic film covering and plastic film + arch shed, the average earliest suitable sowing period could be 8 days and 19 days earlier than open field sowing, respectively. In terms of selecting a safe sowing period, if continuous low temperature is forecasted, the germination rate could be improved by delaying sowing or adding small arch sheds, thereby reducing the risk of low temperature and cold damage.

Key words: early spring sweet corn, open field sowing, film, small arch shed, developmental period, ground temperature, safe sowing