cereal staging - Bayer CropScience

How to Stage Plants1. Count the leaves on the mainshoot or stem• Leaves arise on opposite sides of the mainshoot or stem.• Count the youngest leaf when it is at leastone-half the length of the leaf below it.• When positioned correctly, all leaves on the leftside of the main stem are designated with anodd number and on the right side with an evennumber. The coleoptilar tiller (if present) and theremnants of the coleoptile are also located onthe right side of the plant.• Dead or missing leaves must be counted. Lookfor leaf and sheath remnants at the crown.2. Count the tillers• Each tiller has its own sheath called a prophyll.Each tiller belongs to the main shoot or to othertillers.• For Zadoks stage determination, only countprimary tillers.• Secondary and tertiary tillers also may beformed, so more than one tiller may emergefrom each leaf axil of the main shoot.• Tillers that emerge after the fifth leaf hasemerged are not likely to produce heads andneed not be counted.1231st internode1st node2nd internode645733. Count the nodes• Nodes can easily be seen or felt on the stemabove ground level.• If no nodes are detected above ground, split themain shoot lengthwise to determine if stemelongation has begun.• The elongating internode is hollow between thecrown and the elevated growing point. In solidstem varieties, the internode is not hollow butnodes are still easily identified.45672nd node3rd internode3rd nodeDeveloping spike21