Objectives No-tillage with full crop straw mulching is effective in combating soil erosion and improving soil organic matter and water status, but often causes low soil temperature that inhibit the germination and growth of spring maize in Northeast China. Therefore, straw mulching in strips between maize rows, combined with no-tillage (NT-SRC) has been developed. To understand the performance of NT-SRC practice on soil water and temperature, we monitored the soil moisture and temperature in different position around maize plants during the whole growing stage.

Methods The field monitoring was conducted in southern Jilin Province during the whole maize growing season in 2018. Narrow (40 cm) and wide (100 cm) rows were prepared in field in turn, two maize lines were planted in each narrow row, while the wide row was mulched with straws. Soil water and temperature were monitored at 4 points (i.e., 10, 20, 30 and 50 cm) away from maize plant in the wide row (labeled as 10, 20, 30 and 50 sites), and at 2 points (10 and 20 cm) away from the maize plants in the narrow row (labeled as –10 and –20 sites). Soil water content and temperature were continuously monitored at each point at 5, 10 and 20 cm depths with the sensors controlled by a data logger.

Results The water content was in order of wide row > under plant > narrow row, with the highest water content at 50 cm point in wide row and the lowest at point 10 in narrow row. The time variation of soil moisture across the seven points was in order –10 cm > –20 cm > 10 cm > 0 (under plant) > 20 cm and 30 cm > 50 cm. The stability of soil moisture across the growing stages was in order of seedling stage< maturity stage< jointing stage, silking and filling stage. The soil water storage in wide rows were 13.1% and 11.1% higher than in narrow rows at jointing stage and silking stage, respectively. The differences of soil temperature between wide and narrow rows were mainly observed at the seedling and jointing stages of maize. The soil temperature decreased from 20 cm away from maize plant in the narrow row to 50 cm in the wide row. At the seedling stage, the mean daily temperature in the narrow row was 1℃–2℃ higher than that of the wide row.

Conclusions Under no-tillage condition, straw mulching on wide rows could maintain higher and more stable soil moisture during the whole growing stages of spring maize, and the narrow rows without straw mulching could obtain more heat for the germination and growth of maize at seedling and jointing stages. Therefore, no-tillage with straw mulching in strips alleviates the problem of water and heat required for the growth of maize in the black soil area of Southern Jilin.