Foliar Fertilization As a Tool to Accelerate Peanut Seed Maturation.

Foliar application of nutrients is often used by growers to remediate crop nutrient deficiencies during the growing season. Anecdotal field evidence suggested that irrigated peanut receiving foliar fertilization may display an earlier maturity profile. The objective of this study was to determine if foliar fertilization could increase early pod set and thereby ‘accelerate’ the maturity profile of peanut. The experiment was conducted in Jay, FL during 2016 and 2017, and in Citra, FL during 2016. Treatments included four foliar fertilizer treatments and two harvest timings for the Georgia-06G cultivar. Foliar fertilizer treatments (control, 9.98 Kg N/ha, 1 Kg P2O5/ha, and 0.34 Kg B/ha at each application) were imposed at flowering and two weeks after flowering. Harvest treatments were at early and optimum timing according to adjusted growing degree day (aGDDs) models. The day after each application, leaf tissue nutrient concentrations were determined. For each dig date, yield, kernel moisture and the number of mature and immature pods were quantified. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and chlorophyll fluorescence (OJIP) data were obtained during the season but showed no treatment differences, as they tend to respond during conditions of deficiency or stress. Preliminary data indicated that foliar P applications significantly increased yield by 560 Kg/ha when dug early compared to the control, but the mechanism for the increased yield was not likely due to accelerated maturation. Data during the 2017 season are being collected to verify or refute these results and will be discussed.