Table 2.
The growth stages and irrigation treatments of alfalfa in 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2023.
| Cuts time | Growth stage | Year | Division date of growth stages | Irrigation date | Irrigation amount (mm) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | |||||
| First cuts | Vegetative (Turn-green or Emergence) |
2-yr-old 3-yr-old 1-yr-old |
2017/3/28-4/22 2018/4/7-5/2 2023/5/1-5/20 |
4/2 4/20 - |
52 52 - |
60 60 - |
67 67 - |
67 67 - |
| Branch | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old 1-yr-old |
2017/4/23-5/19 2018/5/3-5/21 2023/5/20-6/29 |
4/23 5/3 5/31 |
45 45 60 |
52 52 - |
52 52 - |
67 67 - |
|
| Branch | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old 1-yr-old |
2017/4/23-5/19 2018/5/3-5/21 2023/5/20-6/29 |
5/12 5/14 6/9(6/22) |
37 37 60 |
45 45 - |
52 52 - |
52 52 - |
|
| Early flowering | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old 1-yr-old |
2017/5/20-5/24 2018/5/22-6/1 2023/6/30-7/14 |
5/20 5/22 7/9 |
37 37 60 |
37 37 - |
45 45 - |
52 52 - |
|
| Second cuts | Vegetative | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old 1-yr-old 1-yr-old |
2017/5/25-6/8 2018/6/2-6/22 2022/7/8-7/18 2023/7/15-7/26 |
6/3 6/12 7/8 7/22 |
45 45 45 60 |
52 52 52 - |
52 52 65 - |
60 60 60 - |
| Branch | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old 1-yr-old 1-yr-old |
2017/6/9-6/20 2018/6/23-7/5 2022/7/19-7/28 2023/7/27-8/5 |
6/9 6/24 7/19 - |
37 37 37 - |
45 45 52 - |
52 52 45 - |
52 52 52 - |
|
| Early flowering | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old 1-yr-old 1-yr-old |
2017/6/21-6/27 2018/7/6-7/8 2022/7/29-8/10 2023/8/6-8/23 |
6/22 7/6 7/29 8/6 |
37 37 37 60 |
37 37 45 - |
45 45 64 - |
52 52 52 - |
|
| Third cuts | Vegetative | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old 1-yr-old |
2017/6/28-7/13 2018/7/9-7/29 2022/8/11-9/1 |
7/6 7/16 - |
45 45 - |
52 52 - |
52 52 - |
60 60 - |
| Branch | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old 1-yr-old |
2017/7/14-7/23 2018/7/30-8/6 2022/9/2-9/23 |
7/14 7/30 8/11 |
37 37 37 |
37 37 45 |
45 45 52 |
52 52 60 |
|
| Early flowering | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old 1-yr-old |
2017/7/24-7/31 2018/8/7-8/12 2022/9/24-10/4 |
7/24 8/7 9/2 |
30 30 45 |
37 37 52 |
45 45 46 |
52 52 60 |
|
| Fourth cuts | Vegetative | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old |
2017/8/1-8/6 2018/8/13-8/18 |
– | - - |
- - |
- - |
- - |
| Branch | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old |
2017/8/7-9/6 2018/8/19-9/6 |
8/8 8/15 |
37 37 |
45 45 |
52 52 |
60 60 |
|
| Early flowering | 2-yr-old 3-yr-old |
2017/9/7-9/17 2018/9/7-9/29 |
9/4 9/7 |
37 37 |
45 45 |
52 52 |
60 60 |
|
| Total | 2017, 2018 2022 2023 |
476 200 360 |
544 246 |
611 260 |
679 269 |
|||
1. During 2017-2018, the experimental design included various water and nitrogen treatments across a large plot area. Due to limitations in the daily irrigation capacity of the equipment, completing an irrigation plan typically took 2-3 days. As a result, irrigation dates for different treatments occasionally experienced delays of 1-3 days compared to the original schedule. 2. The irrigation scheduled for June 3, 2017, was canceled due to heavy rainfall of 27.0 mm prior to the planned irrigation.