REGULAR ARTICLE
Response of four temperate grasses to defoliation height and interval

Geoffrey E. Brink, Michael D. Casler, Randy D. Jackson

Commun. Biometry Crop Sci. (2014) 9 (1), 15-25.
 

ABSTRACT
Vegetative-stage meadow fescue [Schedonorus pratensis (Huds.) P. Beauv.], orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), and quackgrass [Elymus repens (L.) Gould] tillers grown in the greenhouse were clipped to 5- or 10-cm height every 7, 14, 21, 28, or 35 days for two growth cycles and sampled after 7, 14, 21, or 28 days of regrowth. Grasses produced greater number of tillers, herbage dry weight, and root dry weight when defoliated to 10- compared to 5-cm height. Herbage and root dry weight of most grasses exhibited a quadratic increase in response to defoliation interval. The increase in herbage dry weight with increasing defoliation interval and regrowth time was due to an increase in average herbage dry weight per tiller in orchardgrass, but to an increase in number of tillers per plant in other grasses

Key Words: temperate grass; defoliation interval; defoliation height.
 

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