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River-wetland soils: gleying is meaner than the surface looks

Blue-grey below a green top.

Waterlogging
Speed
  1. Riverside paddies, cold water, yellow seedlings.
  2. A spade of grey-blue with rust mottles.
  3. Gley is harsher than the surface looks.
  4. Gleyed fields have poor, smelly roots; a shortage does not have to smell.
  5. Wet land can also be salty, but gley’s main sign is reducing.
  6. Don’t treat riverside gley as ordinary hunger; don’t block drains.
  7. Drainage: Drop groundwater and surface ponding. Engineering first
  8. Name what you see before you feed.
  9. If leaves, roots and the surface disagree, stop.

What you see in the field

Riverside paddies, cold water, yellow seedlings. A spade of grey-blue with rust mottles. Gley is harsher than the surface looks.Is the soil wet or dry, the root white or black? Wet wilt and a foul root mean drain first. Leaf wilt with white roots may be drought. Smell the root before you irrigate.

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 “Ordinary shortage”

    Gleyed fields have poor, smelly roots; a shortage does not have to smell.

  • Looks like “Salty-alkali land”

    Wet land can also be salty, but gley’s main sign is reducing.

Do this / don’t do that

  1. 1Riverside paddies, cold water, yellow seedlings. A spade of grey-blue with rust mottles. Gley is harsher than the surface looks.
  2. 2Ditch and drain. Wet-dry rotation. Warm the soil. Band P by the root. Don’t read only the leaf for nitrogen.
  3. 3Don’t treat riverside gley as ordinary hunger. Use the range on this page only as a range. Confirm with a local station and the product label.

Don’t do this first

  • Don’t treat riverside gley as ordinary hunger; don’t block drains.

Rate range

Drainage

Drop groundwater and surface ponding

Engineering first.

Dry the field

Follow the rice stage

Stop when roots go white. Follow the station.

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

How deep the gley layer sits

How shallow the reducing layer sits

The shallower it is, the more it hurts the root.

When you see Riverside paddies, test. Mix several spots of the tilled layer; skip the edge and the manure heap.

Lesson video

2026-03-04 · 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