Abstract:
The effects of different concentrations of foliar silicon fertilizers (OBFs) on the maize yield and components of Mihuatiannuo No.12 were studied in order to provide theoretical guidance for the high-yield cultivation of maize in the red soil area of eastern Fujian. On the basis of conventional fertilization, with no spraying the silicon fertilizer as the control group (T
0,CK), the five spraying concentrations of foliar silicon fertilizer with 1.34 (T
1), 6.67 (T
2), 10.00 (T
3), 13.34 (T
4), 16.67 (T
5) mL OBFs/L were set up to study the effects of different concentrations of OBFs foliar silicon fertilizer on the nutrient absorption, yield and components of maize kernels. The results showed that the application of different concentrations of OBFs foliar silicon fertilizer could significantly promote the absorption of potassium and silicon in maize kernels. Compared with T
0 (CK), the potassium absorption of maize kernels treated with T
1, T
2, T
3, T4 and T
5 increased by 7.4%, 4.9%, 10.4% and 15.3%, respectively, while compared with T
0 (CK), the silicon absorption of maize kernels treated with T
1, T
2, T
3, T
4 and T
5 increased by 2.1, 2.5, 2.4, 2.3 and 3.4 times, respectively. The increase of potassium absorption and silicon absorption in maize kernels further improved the length and diameter of corn cob. Compared with T
0, the length of corn cob treated with T
1, T
2, T
3, T
4 and T
5 increased by 15.2%, 19.2%, 24.2%, 26.6% and 29.7%, respectively, and the diameter of corn cob increased by 1.3%, 1.6%, 3.1%, 2.7% and 5.5%, respectively. Compared with T
0, the yield of maize treated with T
1, T
2, T
3, T
4 and T
5 increased by 1.9%, 3.1%, 13.1%, 17.4% and 18.7%, respectively. The results of linear regression analysis showed that the increase of potassium and silicon absorption in maize kernels was the leading factors in the yield-increasing process of maize. In summary, the application of different concentrations of OBFs foliar silicon fertilizer could help to increase the absorption of potassium and silicon in the maize kernels, improve the length and diameter of maize rods, and thus increase the maize yield. Especially, 13.34 mL·L
-1 and 16.67 mL·L
-1 were the better spraying concentration of OBFs foliar silicon fertilizer for maizes which were being planted in the red soil area of northern Fujian.