Abstract: A field trial was carried out along the Yangtze river in Anhui province to clarify the relationship between growth, yield of fresh maize and meteorological factors under different sowing dates, which would provide a reference to the suitable sowing date of fresh maize. In the study, the fresh maize cultivar “Caitiannuo 100” was used. The treatments consisted of ten sowing dates: April-1, April-16, May-1, May-16, May-31, June-15, June-30, July-15, July-30, and August-14. The growth period, yield, yield component and production value of fresh maize were analyzed. The results showed that the growth duration was shortened when delaying the sowing date from April-1 to June-15. When the sowing date was from June-15 to July-30, the growth duration was extended. The yield was decreased when delaying the sowing date from April-1 to June-30, and the yield was increased. The mean grain yield of fresh ear in the sowing date from April-1 to May-1 and July-30 was 20026.56kg·ha−1, which was significantly higher than that of other sowing dates (P<0.05). The production value of fresh ear planted in July-30 was 70245.00yuan·ha⁻¹, which was significantly increased by 68.66%−123.50% compared with other sowing dates (P<0.05). When the fresh maize was sowed during May-31 to July-15, the days of high temperature ≥32℃ accounted for 56.25%−60.26% in the whole growth duration of the plant, and the accumulation of temperature ≥32℃ increased by 47.78%-54.46% than that of sowing dates from April-1 to May-1 and July-30, which accelerated the fresh maize growing process, shortened the plant height, declined the matter accumulation, ultimately decreased the yield. The fresh maize could not be harvested with the sowing date of August-14 due to the lower temperature during the grain filling stage. The growth duration of maize was negatively correlated with daily mean temperature before silking. The ranking of the correlation coefficients between meteorological factors and fresh maize yield from high to low were effective accumulated temperature >10℃ before silking, precipitation before silking, daily mean temperature before silking, average daily temperature range before silking, precipitation after silking, effective accumulated temperature >10℃ after silking, and sunshine hours before silking. The effective accumulated temperature >10℃ before silking stage mainly influenced the yield by regulating the kernel number per ear. In conclusion, the fresh maize sowed during April-1 to May-1 or July-30 could be prone to extend growth period, increase matter accumulation, and obtain high yield, while might be in danger in the risk of high temperature stress with the sowing date from May-31 to July-15 along the Yangtze river.

Key words: Fresh maize, Sowing date, Meteorological factor, Growth period, Yield