Effect of planting density on yield and related traits of silage maize with different plant types

The effects of planting density on silage maize yield and related traits of different plant types were studied using Yayu Silage 8 with horizontal leaves, Jingke silage 516 with semi compact form, and Limin 518 with upright leaves in four planting densities. The results showed that the optimum densities for fresh grass yield and grain yield of silage maize are different, and that the optimum density of the former is higher than that of the latter. With an increasing population density, the number of green leaves, fresh weight per plant, ear length, ear diameter, ear row number, and grain number per ear decreased. Bald length, plant height, ear height, empty bar rate, lodging (fold) rate, and gall and smut incidence rates increased gradually. The thousand-grain weight decreased under high density. Silage growth period was slightly prolonged. Limin 518 can be adapted to high density planting. Jingke silage 516 is the most intolerant to close planting, while there was a strong edge advantage.