Abstract: Based on three irrigation decision-making methods（soil moisture, evapotranspiration, soil water potential）, ten irrigation treatments(CK,W₁,W₂,E_P100,E_P80,E_F100,E_F80,P₂₅,P₄₅,P₆₅) were designed to study the effects of different irrigation decision-making methods on the growth, grain yield, water and nitrogen use efficiency of spring maize. The results show that the highest grain yield is obtained by CK, E_P100 and P₂₅ under the soil moisture, evapotranspiration and soil water potential based irrigation methods, respectively. The yield of CK is 6.90% and 8.28% higher than that of E_P100 and P₂₅, respectively. The growth and dry matter accumulation of spring maize are highest under CK, but its water consumption is largest（718.54 mm）, which is 26.13% and 11.57% higher than that of E_P100 and P₂₅, respectively. The yield of E_P100 is significantly lower than that of CK, while its water use efficiency is significantly higher than that of CK. The P₂₅ treatment has irrigation times than CK and E₁₀₀ treatments, and its performances in yield and water use efficiency are not outstanding. There is no significant difference in maize yield and water use efficiency between E_P80 and E_P100. Comprehensively considering the yield, water use efficiency, and the applicability of the methods, it is believed that the irrigation decision-making method based on past evapotranspiration with weekly irrigation quota of 80%ET₀(E_P80) is the most suitable irrigation decision-making method for efficient and stable spring maize production in the Hexi Region.