Early Season Water Requirements for Peanuts

Here are a few notes from Dr. John Beasley on water requirements for peanuts:
- Peanuts have low water requirements the first 30-50 days of the season.
- The root system of a peanut can usually go deep enough to capture water deeper in the soil profile to sustain the plant during early season drought, unless a hardpan restricts the root system.
- With the increased cost of irrigation due to increased cost of energy/fuel, save irrigation when peanuts most need water. This is when plants begin to peg and fill out their pods.
- Research by Dr. Craig Kvien has shown no yield difference when peanut fields were watered during the 20-50 days after planting and those that received no water during the same time.
- Once a field enters the reproductive growth stage of peanut by flowering and pegging, the water demand begins to increase sharply. At that time it is best to use either Irrigator Pro or UGA EASY Pan to trigger irrigation.

- R.J.