Delayed sowing increases grain number by enhancing spike competition capacity for assimilates in winter wheat

Wheat yield is linearly related to grain number per unit area, which is greatly influenced by floret fertility. Therefore, a better understanding of the mechanisms controlling floret fertility may be important to further increasing yields. During the 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 growing seasons, Tainong 18, a widely planted winter wheat cultivar (Triticum aestivum L.), was sown in a field on four dates (1, 8, 15, and 22 October). Responses to sowing...