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After rain the surface caps and cracks: water runs off, seedlings stick

A raindrop smash plus no cover.

WaterloggingHard-packed soil
Speed
  1. After rain, maize is stuck under a crust.
  2. The surface cracks, moisture runs, seedlings jam.
  3. Clay also cracks in a drought; a rain cap is slurry then a skin.
  4. Salty-alkali cracking often comes with white crust.
  5. Don’t rotary-till into ribbons after rain; don’t smash dry crust into the seedlings.
  6. Break the cap by cultivating: Right moisture, shallow loosen. Don’t wait until it bakes to brick
  7. Name what you see before you feed.
  8. If leaves, roots and the surface disagree, stop.

What you see in the field

After rain, maize is stuck under a crust. The surface cracks, moisture runs, seedlings jam.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.

To add: photograph the row, the root tip, or the surface

Rain packs it; sun bakes it into a lid. A sketch — don’t fertilise from the picture alone.

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 cracks”

    Clay also cracks in a drought; a rain cap is slurry then a skin.

  • Looks like “Salty-alkali cracking”

    Salty-alkali cracking often comes with white crust.

Do this / don’t do that

  1. 1After rain, maize is stuck under a crust. The surface cracks, moisture runs, seedlings jam.
  2. 2When you can enter, a shallow cultivation breaks the lid. Cover against the next smash. Organic matter helps.
  3. 3Don’t rotary-till into ribbons after rain. 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 rotary-till into ribbons after rain; don’t smash dry crust into the seedlings.

Rate range

Break the cap by cultivating

Right moisture, shallow loosen

Don’t wait until it bakes to brick.

Cover

Straw or an intercrop

Catch raindrops.

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

Cap thickness

Whether the seedling can push through

The thicker it is, the more it needs breaking.

When you see After rain, test. Walk an S and mix — one hole is not the field.

Lesson video

2026-03-11 · 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