• Lentils
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• Seeding

Objective

To determine the optimum seeding date and plant population density for the most commonly grown red lentil varieties for southern and central regions of Saskatchewan. To determine the effect of seeding dates and plant population on growth and development, seed yield, visual quality, and milling quality of red lentils.

Outcome

Days to emergence, days to first flower, and days to maturity were all greatly shortened with the late-seeding of red lentils. Averaged over the three years, seeding date had a significant effect on the seed yield and harvest index at both Swift Current and Saskatoon. Results showed that there was very little difference in percent whole versus split seeds between seeding dates. Plant population had a highly significant impact on days to maturity and seed yield of red lentils in all years at both Swift Current and at Saskatoon. There was a strong trend that as plant density increased the percentage of whole seeds in the harvest seedlots increased and the percent split seed decreased.