Rain has been hit or miss in Colquitt County over the last week and growers are asking about water requirements for peanuts. Below are a few words from Calvin Perry, Gary Hawkins, and Wesley Porter, UGA Extension, about the current peanut irrigation situation.
Typically you’d like to have peanuts in the ground by the end of April, however, the high amount of rainfall during this time caused many growers not to get their peanuts planted until mid-to-late May. The trouble with later planted crops is that their highest water use period will then fall during the hottest driest part of the year. We have be getting scattered showers about every afternoon across the state, but these scattered showers may not provide all of the water needed for the peanut crop. To make sure the crop has enough water the following charts are provided for two different age groups of peanuts and water use throughout the growing season. Use these charts as an indication of what the peanuts need at different maturity and planting dates. These charts can also be used as a guide to how much water is needed by peanuts. If the particular field has received ample water to produce the crop, then irrigation may not be needed. Also be aware of fact that soil type has an impact on the amount of water available to the crop. For sandy soils, a high intensity rain will more than likely infiltrate and may provide needed water for crop, however, in heavier soil, the same intensity rainfall will potentially have high losses due to runoff because it will not be able to absorb the water as well as the sandy soil. On the other hand the heavier soils have a higher water holding capacity and will retain moisture for longer than sandy soils.
