What Is Crop Steering & How to Use It to Increase Yield

What Is Crop Steering

Crop steering isn’t just a buzzword - it’s a strategic way to control the life cycle of weed plants. It involves guiding crops through their growth stages, focusing on either vegetative growth (where the plant grows leaves and stems) or generative growth (where the plant focuses on flower and bud production). A minor change in the rules of the following factors can influence the plant’s physical and chemical growth response, giving you opportunities to steer plant growth vegetatively or generatively.

·Light

·Humidity

· Temperature

· Nutrients

· CO2

· Irrigation

Vegetative Steering vs Generative Steering

Before jumping to specific crop steering techniques, you have to know the difference between the vegetative stage and the flowering stage.

Vegetative growth is the stage where the plant focuses on developing its root system, stem, and leaves. During this phase, the plant requires more water, nutrients, and light to support its rapid growth. To promote vegetative growth, growers can use a crop steering chart to adjust environmental conditions. For instance, maintaining a lower VPD (vapor pressure deficit) and higher humidity levels can encourage robust vegetative growth.

Generative growth is the stage where the plant shifts its focus to producing flowers and seeds. During this phase, the plant requires less water and nutrients but more light and CO2 to support flower development. To promote generative crop steering, growers can employ techniques such as reducing irrigation frequency, increasing light intensity, and maintaining a higher VPD. These adjustments help the plant allocate more energy toward flower production, resulting in higher-quality yields.

Crop Steering in Environmental Control

Environmental control plays a crucial role in crop steering journey by influencing key factors such as light, temperature, humidity, and VPD to guide plants through vegetative and generative growth stages. Manipulating these factors helps growers optimize plant health and productivity. Here's a breakdown of the primary environmental factors used in crop steering:

· Light: Adjusting the light cycle is essential, especially for photoperiodic plants like most   strains. Switching to a 12-hour light cycle with 12 hours of darkness encourages flowering, while extended light exposure promotes vegetative growth. Fortunately, Spider Farmer is about to launch smart LED grow lights soon to let you freely adjust light schedules on the phone.

· Temperature: Maintaining higher ambient temperatures encourages vegetative growth by keeping plants more active in developing roots, stems, and leaves. Conversely, lowering temperatures mimics seasonal changes, steering plants toward the generative phase.

· Day-Night Temperature Difference: Altering the difference between day and night temperatures can control plant stretching. Large differences result in more spaced-out growth (inter-nodal spacing), while smaller differences produce a more compact plant structure.

· Speed of Temperature Change: The rate at which the temperature shifts between day and night is also important. A slower transition can promote generative growth, while faster changes help maintain vegetative activity.

· Pipe Temperature (if used): In greenhouse setups, controlling the temperature of pipes used for heating can further fine-tune the plant’s growth phase, especially during the generative stage.

· Humidity: Higher humidity levels are favorable for vegetative growth as they reduce plant stress and support faster development. On the contrary, lower humidity during the generative phase signals the plant to focus on reproduction and fruiting. Here's a recommended for cultivation.

· Ventilation and Air Exchange: Proper air circulation and ventilation help regulate temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels, all of which contribute to effective crop steering.

When to Crop Steering

Depending on your goal, crop steering can be applied at any stage of plant growth to either encourage vegetative growth or shift the plant towards its generative (flowering or fruiting) phase. Many growers use a combination of vegetative and generative steering during the flowering cycle to maintain a balanced plant.

For example, as the plant matures and reaches the desired size, you can start steering it toward the generative phase. This involves reducing humidity, increasing the difference between day and night temperatures, and tweaking the light spectrum to prepare the plant for flowering or fruiting. Once the flowers have set and the first round of defoliation is complete, you may switch to a vegetative approach to keep the plant healthy and encourage flower bulking.

Some growers alternate between vegetative and generative methods to maintain plant balance, while others stick to vegetative steering until closer to harvest, at which point they switch to a more intense generative approach to finish the crop.