MAIZE

**FEEDING YOUR MAIZE AT THE RIGHT TIME: HOW TO TOP DRESS FOR MAXIMUM YIELDS**

When your maize reaches knee height, it’s not just showing off how tall it’s grown — it’s calling out for food. This stage marks a crucial turning point in the crop’s growth. The plant is actively developing its leaves, strengthening its stems, and preparing to form cobs. To support all this work, your maize needs a powerful boost of nutrients through top dressing.

Top dressing provides your maize with the nutrients it needs exactly when it needs them most. It ensures that your crop remains healthy, maintains deep green leaves, and produces large, well-filled cobs. Without proper top dressing, your maize may appear stunted, pale, or produce small, empty cobs.

The key nutrients needed now are Nitrogen and Calcium.

Nitrogen is the main driver of leafy growth and greenness. It helps the plant produce chlorophyll, which is essential for photosynthesis — the process that turns sunlight into energy for growth.

Calcium strengthens plant cells and supports cob development, helping prevent disorders such as poor grain filling or weak stems.

Together, these nutrients act like a balanced diet for your maize — Nitrogen provides the energy to grow, while Calcium builds strong, healthy plants that can hold heavy cobs.

Apply your first top dressing when the maize is knee-high, about 3 to 4 weeks after planting. This supports rapid vegetative growth. Then apply the second top dressing 3 to 4 weeks later, around the tasseling stage, to boost cob formation and grain filling.

For chemical fertilizers, use Urea or Ammonium Nitrate (LAN). Apply about 100 to 150 kilograms per hectare per top dressing, depending on soil fertility and rainfall.

For organic alternatives, use composted manure, Tithonia fertilizer, or liquid animal manure tea enriched with wood ash or eggshells to supply both Nitrogen and Calcium naturally.

Apply fertilizer 5 to 10 centimeters away from the plant base to avoid burning the roots. If possible, apply before rainfall or lightly cover the fertilizer with soil to reduce nutrient loss through evaporation. For organic liquid feeds, spray or pour around the base of the plants every two weeks during the growing period.

Farming isn’t just about planting seeds and waiting for miracles. Even faith bears fruit when backed by effort. Feed your maize well at the right time, and nature — with a little help from your hands — will reward you with a healthy, heavy harvest.

— dreck

Your professor’s Teacher.