As crop growth continues, it's important for producers to be checking the staging of field pea crops. Manitoba Agriculture's industry development specialist for pulses, Dennis Lange says plant height doesn't indicate staging — growers need to count how many above-ground nodes are on the plants. Lange says right now most pea crops are in the seven- to eight-node stage, which means if producers haven't sprayed for weed control yet, they've missed the window for products like Odyssey, Viper, or Pursuit.
"With peas, every week you delay your weed control is some potential yield loss," Lang says.
He also says it's a good idea for producers to be checking their plant stands to see if there were any issues with seed quality.
"Seven to eight plants per square foot established is a good number to be at," he says. "If you're a little bit higher, like nine to 10, you're still okay yet. Once you start getting above 10, then there's some potential for disease issues later on with too many plants."
Source : Steinbachonline