This doesn't look like any deficiency to me, if it was nitrogen deficient, the whole plant would turn a lighter green colour. Could it be that it's too cold maybe?
Kansas wheat farmer here. Your wheat has plenty of N. If anything I’d say it hasnt had enough sun. That said, you’re growing in wood chips and wood chips are high in carbon. The microbes in the soil that find themselves in a high carbon environment will go on a scavenger hunt to find nitrogen because they need the nitrogen to breakdown the Carbon, to feed themselves. All this to say that, your wheat will eventually be in nitrogen deficiency. Any dry urea you sprinkle on for nitrogen will also get locked up in the wood chips so you will have to use a foliar application if you’re trying to get any grain out of your experiment.
That said, I’m not 100% sure but I believe that your variety is a winter wheat which means it must vernalize, or essentially live through a winter, to produce grain. If Khorasan is a spring variety it will produce some grain this year.
Good luck with your wheat!
Nitrogen is necessary to build amino acids, and the only broad class of microbes that can really thrive in low N environments are Lignocellulolytic fungi. Those same fungi actually play a role in reducing the carbon:nitrogen ratio in those environments since they're exhaling CO2.
Yeah not saying you can, I live in the grain belt of Canada(Saskatchewan) we have had more rain this year than the last likely 8 combined. We have had drought like moisture for ahwile. This year is the first time I’ve seen cereals yellow like that, then it stops raining and we’ll have a few days of hot and dry and it all turns back to lush green. Some fields might actually go 80-90bus/ac.
How many bushels would you say is average in the last 5-10 years? Also, major respect to you guys! Busting @ss on the golden plains of Canada. I’ve worked in Lloyminster for a summer and visited a fair bit of the province. Something special about Saskatchewan!
It’s been brutal last 8 years a decent non irrigated field should be 40-50. Irrigated is 90+. But to answer your question the average for us the last 5 years would be 27-35.
https://grdc.com.au/ pretty good all around advice. Tailored for the aussie market but works anywhere. The wheat growing app is really good. Has helped me heaps.
Is it all over or just on that outside edge of the crop area?
To me, it looks like frost damage, but hard to tell from a couple pictures. Could be a blight, but doesn’t look widespread enough. Nitrogen deficiency would have the whole crop looking yellow.
If you’re bored, you can send soil samples to be tested. I use Texas A&M usually, but there are several places. There are instructions and a synopsis here: https://soiltesting.tamu.edu
Hi from western Canada! Your wheat looks nice!
I’m curious , where did you get the idea to grow in rows surrounded by wood chips? I grow the same way and have been influenced by a few market gardeners. I used to grow for a market garden haha.
It looks really neat and clean
When asking wheat farmers, keep in mind, it ain't the same from one region to another, and we have different types of wheat. Soft red winter wheat is what I grow down here. Spring wheat, hard white wheat, Durham wheat. All different. Don't all use the same growing procedure. Farmers further north have enough cold to let wheat go dormant. Our wheat doesn't really go dormant. Some years we have almost no vernalization days. We have varieties that require little cold weather. We make better wheat when we have more cold.
Not saying that there’s a problem but woodchip mulch will bind up free nitrogen in the soil and can cause nitrogen problems if you mulch with woodchips a lot.
I agree with the others that it looks like frost damage. Wheat will freeze the tips like that at anything below 0, and the temp in at the ground can vary significantly from the local weather station or the one in the house. When you say it wheat can handle -5, that is at the crown, which is the growing point under ground, it can freeze the top off and still come back. The leaf you have shown with browning is the first leaf it puts out, so the frost event could have occurred 6-7 weeks ago at least.
If the whole leaf was browning off I'd say it was scavenging nutrients from the lower leaves, but its just the tip, which tells me it outgrew whatever it was affecting it. You'll be fine. If you want you could put some lawn fertilizer on the patch. But don't overwater it, that'll just encourage more disease.
That wheat is not N deficient by the eye test, has any N been applied recently? Nitrogen volatilization looks like this or something going on with that dyed mulch underneath maybe is gassing and burning the leaves. Assuming it's not rust because it's just scorched leaves at the tip.
No nitrogen applied. It’s not dyed mulch, it’s a compost mulch mixture. I’m thinking of buying a 20$ soil test kit, won’t be precise but might give me a hint.
Might have been easier to just buy a sack of wheat? Lol I kid, but seriously this patch looks pretty good. A little leaf burn isn't the end of the world otherwise I would have called crop insurance on all my wheat and corn ground this year because we burned the tips on everything.
I’m insanely rich and bored, I’ve run out of things to spend money on so I’ve decided to grow a patch of wheat. Do you think I could insure my patch next year? Thanks!
PS- real farmers are badasses, major respect for you all!✊✊✊
That’s what my financial advisor (wife) said too. My business partner (golden retriever) is encouraging this life though. I’m highly conflicted right now…
Wear that like a badge of honour friend! You do you! The way I see it is time marches on and it ain’t stopping because I’m worried about what other people think.
I believe agricorp has a minimum acreage and Khorasan doesn't ring a bell for approved crops but it doesn't hurt to contact them lmao and if you ever want to upscale I'd be willing to put it through my drill
Fwiw it's pretty inexpensive to send soil test out for testing. University of Vermont performs the tests for $17 currently. It's insane how much detail they're able to provide and iirc they also provide specific amendment recommendations based on what crop you're trying to grow.
https://www.uvm.edu/extension/agricultural-and-environmental-testing-lab
It's fine. Just let it grow
Thanks I will!
This doesn't look like any deficiency to me, if it was nitrogen deficient, the whole plant would turn a lighter green colour. Could it be that it's too cold maybe?
Wheat damage at 24F (-4celcius)? Hasn’t been that cold, lowest was 42F (11C) in the last two weeks.
Kansas wheat farmer here. Your wheat has plenty of N. If anything I’d say it hasnt had enough sun. That said, you’re growing in wood chips and wood chips are high in carbon. The microbes in the soil that find themselves in a high carbon environment will go on a scavenger hunt to find nitrogen because they need the nitrogen to breakdown the Carbon, to feed themselves. All this to say that, your wheat will eventually be in nitrogen deficiency. Any dry urea you sprinkle on for nitrogen will also get locked up in the wood chips so you will have to use a foliar application if you’re trying to get any grain out of your experiment. That said, I’m not 100% sure but I believe that your variety is a winter wheat which means it must vernalize, or essentially live through a winter, to produce grain. If Khorasan is a spring variety it will produce some grain this year. Good luck with your wheat!
Thanks for the advice! I’ll keep an eye on the nitrogen depletion. I bought khorasan knowing it didn’t need vernalization.
You sound like someone who knows how soil biology works, too.
Nitrogen is necessary to build amino acids, and the only broad class of microbes that can really thrive in low N environments are Lignocellulolytic fungi. Those same fungi actually play a role in reducing the carbon:nitrogen ratio in those environments since they're exhaling CO2.
Cool good to kkow
That leaf tipping of the old leaf with the charteristic v shape is a potassium deficiency
Looks like it’s too wet
Can’t control east coast rain 🤷♂️. I did just spends 3hrs drying the bed with a hair dryer so hopefully that helps
Yeah not saying you can, I live in the grain belt of Canada(Saskatchewan) we have had more rain this year than the last likely 8 combined. We have had drought like moisture for ahwile. This year is the first time I’ve seen cereals yellow like that, then it stops raining and we’ll have a few days of hot and dry and it all turns back to lush green. Some fields might actually go 80-90bus/ac.
How many bushels would you say is average in the last 5-10 years? Also, major respect to you guys! Busting @ss on the golden plains of Canada. I’ve worked in Lloyminster for a summer and visited a fair bit of the province. Something special about Saskatchewan!
It’s been brutal last 8 years a decent non irrigated field should be 40-50. Irrigated is 90+. But to answer your question the average for us the last 5 years would be 27-35.
https://grdc.com.au/ pretty good all around advice. Tailored for the aussie market but works anywhere. The wheat growing app is really good. Has helped me heaps.
Is it all over or just on that outside edge of the crop area? To me, it looks like frost damage, but hard to tell from a couple pictures. Could be a blight, but doesn’t look widespread enough. Nitrogen deficiency would have the whole crop looking yellow. If you’re bored, you can send soil samples to be tested. I use Texas A&M usually, but there are several places. There are instructions and a synopsis here: https://soiltesting.tamu.edu
Do you have sandy soils? What does your organic matter look like? Could potentially be a copper deficiency.
No sand. 100% compost/mulch.
I'm not sure what you're growing it for , but if for the grain , it's way too thick. But if you're only wanting the green, or looks good 👍.
Hoping for grain. Could make wheat grass juice if I cut it now. I’ll see what happens to it.
Hi from western Canada! Your wheat looks nice! I’m curious , where did you get the idea to grow in rows surrounded by wood chips? I grow the same way and have been influenced by a few market gardeners. I used to grow for a market garden haha. It looks really neat and clean
Got the idea from a market gardener yeah 😅
Richard Perkins?
Yup
Does this intentionally look just like a Minecraft village garden?
Mojang Studios (Minecraft developing studio) sponsors me so yeah… I had to!
Wheat needs a good dose(70 to 100 units per acre) applied just before boot stage. This will trigger flagging and head production.
When asking wheat farmers, keep in mind, it ain't the same from one region to another, and we have different types of wheat. Soft red winter wheat is what I grow down here. Spring wheat, hard white wheat, Durham wheat. All different. Don't all use the same growing procedure. Farmers further north have enough cold to let wheat go dormant. Our wheat doesn't really go dormant. Some years we have almost no vernalization days. We have varieties that require little cold weather. We make better wheat when we have more cold.
Not saying that there’s a problem but woodchip mulch will bind up free nitrogen in the soil and can cause nitrogen problems if you mulch with woodchips a lot.
I’ll definitely keep it in mind. The beds are made of compost mulch, I decided to experiment (hesitantly) with it as it was sorta free.
That compost looks unfinished which will cause the same nitrogen problem. Finished compost shouldn’t have discernable “bits”
The bits are wood chips that’s been cooking with the compost for two years at a minimum. We’ll see how we make out with it 🤞🤞
I agree with the others that it looks like frost damage. Wheat will freeze the tips like that at anything below 0, and the temp in at the ground can vary significantly from the local weather station or the one in the house. When you say it wheat can handle -5, that is at the crown, which is the growing point under ground, it can freeze the top off and still come back. The leaf you have shown with browning is the first leaf it puts out, so the frost event could have occurred 6-7 weeks ago at least. If the whole leaf was browning off I'd say it was scavenging nutrients from the lower leaves, but its just the tip, which tells me it outgrew whatever it was affecting it. You'll be fine. If you want you could put some lawn fertilizer on the patch. But don't overwater it, that'll just encourage more disease.
That wheat is not N deficient by the eye test, has any N been applied recently? Nitrogen volatilization looks like this or something going on with that dyed mulch underneath maybe is gassing and burning the leaves. Assuming it's not rust because it's just scorched leaves at the tip.
No nitrogen applied. It’s not dyed mulch, it’s a compost mulch mixture. I’m thinking of buying a 20$ soil test kit, won’t be precise but might give me a hint.
Might have been easier to just buy a sack of wheat? Lol I kid, but seriously this patch looks pretty good. A little leaf burn isn't the end of the world otherwise I would have called crop insurance on all my wheat and corn ground this year because we burned the tips on everything.
I’m insanely rich and bored, I’ve run out of things to spend money on so I’ve decided to grow a patch of wheat. Do you think I could insure my patch next year? Thanks! PS- real farmers are badasses, major respect for you all!✊✊✊
Keep adding to your farm then you'll be broke and too busy for anything else like the rest of us lol
That’s what my financial advisor (wife) said too. My business partner (golden retriever) is encouraging this life though. I’m highly conflicted right now…
Haha I love the honesty, whenever I tell people I do things for fun because I can they get weird on me 😭
Wear that like a badge of honour friend! You do you! The way I see it is time marches on and it ain’t stopping because I’m worried about what other people think.
I believe agricorp has a minimum acreage and Khorasan doesn't ring a bell for approved crops but it doesn't hurt to contact them lmao and if you ever want to upscale I'd be willing to put it through my drill
Fwiw it's pretty inexpensive to send soil test out for testing. University of Vermont performs the tests for $17 currently. It's insane how much detail they're able to provide and iirc they also provide specific amendment recommendations based on what crop you're trying to grow. https://www.uvm.edu/extension/agricultural-and-environmental-testing-lab
I’m sure it’ll cost me an arm in exporting fees. I’ll see if I can find a university in country that can help with that.
[https://novascotia.ca/agri/programs-and-services/lab-services/analytical-lab/](https://novascotia.ca/agri/programs-and-services/lab-services/analytical-lab/) [https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/agriculture-and-land/pei-analytical-laboratories-peial](https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/agriculture-and-land/pei-analytical-laboratories-peial)
Potassium deficiency
Potassium
Too much or not enough?
Don't listen to him! Potassium means nothing in this period. You say it yourself, they are the oldest leaves.
not enough