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Wheel tracks: seedlings don’t come up in the rut

One wet pass packs more than a dry season of work.

Hard-packed soil
Speed
  1. Nothing comes up in the rut; the bed still has plants.
  2. A tyre print is a strip of dead soil.
  3. Drought is the whole field; wheel packing is two lines.
  4. Fertiliser burn lines the furrow; packing lines the tyre.
  5. Don’t take heavy kit in after rain; don’t treat the rut as a seedbed.
  6. Moisture for the job: Don’t drive a heavy rig in mud. The first rule
  7. Name what you see before you feed.
  8. If leaves, roots and the surface disagree, stop.

What you see in the field

Nothing comes up in the rut; the bed still has plants. A tyre print is a strip of dead soil.When a hoe bounces or footprints sink, dig twenty centimetres and look for a shiny hard pan. Roots that turn sideways count. Cracked dust is extra. Keep machines off wet soil.

A sketch. Do not fertilise from the picture alone.

Tap to enlarge. The caption says what to photograph. Missing field photos are marked as to-be-added.

Why it looks like this

The field looks like this because the root cannot take water or nutrients the usual way. Fix the soil condition first — drainage, salt, acidity, compaction or a salt of fertiliser — then a thin feed. Rates live in the range on this page; confirm with a local station and the label.

Easy to mix up

  • Looks like “Drought missing plants”

    Drought is the whole field; wheel packing is two lines.

  • Looks like “A fertiliser-burn strip”

    Fertiliser burn lines the furrow; packing lines the tyre.

Do this / don’t do that

  1. 1Compare the worst plants with a neighbour ridge. Photograph whole plant, close-up and soil surface before you add fertiliser.
  2. 2Match roots, leaves and the soil surface to this guide. If they do not line up, do not copy a bag count.
  3. 3Use the rate range on this page only as a range. Confirm with a local station and the product label.

Don’t do this first

  • Don’t take heavy kit in after rain; don’t treat the rut as a seedbed.

Rate range

Moisture for the job

Don’t drive a heavy rig in mud

The first rule.

Wheel-track repair

Loosen after harvest

Don’t leave it until next year.

These are ranges. Confirm with your local extension station and the product label.

Bulk density (in the wheel track)

How hard it was pressed

Clearly higher than outside the track.

When you see Nothing comes up in the rut; the bed still has plants. A tyre print is a strip of dead soil, test. Walk an S and mix — one hole is not the field.

Lesson video

2026-03-08 · Li Zeyu · For learning. Serious damage: local agronomist or a soil test.

For learning only. Fertiliser and pesticide decisions need a local agronomist and a soil test.

Not sure? Photograph the field to identify the problem