Louisiana Crops Newsletter, 3-16-20
Daniel Fromme, Stephenson, Daniel O., Padgett, Guy B., Deliberto, Michael, Brown, Sebe, Moseley, David O, Copes, Josh, Shiratsuchi, Luciano
LSU AgCenter
Soybean growth and development is largely affected by photoperiod (the amount of sunlight and darkness per day). When the day length falls below a critical period for a maturity group, the plant will be induced to flower (R1 growth stage). The plant at the R1 growth stage has switched from building vegetative plant structures to building more reproductive structures. This is more apparent in determinate soybean varieties, which cease vegetative growth once the plant is induced to flower, than in indeterminate varieties. Indeterminate varieties typically will continue vegetative growth until the R5 growth stage (beginning seed).