Seasonal restrictions of bud growth on roots of Cirsium arvense and Sonchus arvensis and rhizomes of Elymus repens

Abstract

P>The success of weed management aimed at depleting the regenerative structures of perennial weeds depends largely on the sprouting activity of rhizome and root buds. Seasonal variation in sprouting of these buds on Cirsium arvense, Sonchus arvensis and Elymus repens was studied for plants collected from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. At 2-week intervals from July to October, 5-cm fragments of roots or rhizomes were cut from plants grown in buckets and planted into soil in pots, half of which were placed immediately into growth chambers at 18 degrees C for 4 weeks. The other half of the pots were initially placed in a dark room at 2 degrees C for 4 weeks before being transferred to the same growth chamber, also for 4 weeks. During the growth chamber period, the numbers of emerged shoots in each pot were counted weekly. The sprouting activity of C. arvense and E. repens was relatively uniform during this period and bud dormancy was not apparent. In all ecotypes of S. arvensis, innate bud dormancy developed during the latter part of the growing season. For all three species, differences in sprouting readiness were found among ecotypes. The results imply that C. arvense and E. repens are more likely to be controlled by mechanical measures in autumn than S. arvensis.

Keywords

perennial weeds; couch grass; creeping thistle; perennial sowthistle; dormancy; vegetative buds; rhizomes; roots; regenerative structures

Published in

Weed Research
2010, volume: 50, number: 2, pages: 102-109
Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

SLU Authors

• Fogelfors, Håkan

  • Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3180.2009.00756.x

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/48449