‘Grasslands Roa’ tall fescue: Seedling growth and establishment

Abstract

Germination rate, root, and shoot growth of 'Grasslands Roa' S170, and a wild type tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) were compared with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) in the glasshouse and field. There was little variation between tall fescues but S170 established slightly better than the others. Under moisture stress, the wild type was superior to the other tall fescues in germination and establishment. Ryegrass was markedly superior to all tall fescues because of much higher germination, root elongation, and tillering rates. Regrowth following defoliation of tall fescue seedlings was also much poorer than ryegrass. The physiological basis of some of these differences is discussed, together with agricultural implications on the potential use, management, and future selection of tall fescue.

Grass establishment and performance on a high country soil fertilised with nitrogen

“…Early seedling growth (Fig. 5) for the five cultivars in descending order was Maru, Nui, Roa, Wana, and Basyn which agrees with current information on their relative establishment rates (Lancashire et al 1980;Anderson 1982;Brock et al 1982;Lancashire & Brock 1983;Chapman et al 1985;Hume & Fraser 1985). Wana and Basyn, though emerging slowly and having only moderate responses to N in the first year, were the most productive cultivars in the second year.…”

“…Nui and Roa, though slightly depleted in seedling numbers by high rates of N at sowing, still had the most uniform swards in the second and third years with Roa showing little effect of its slower establishment. Brock et al (1982) suggested that Roa, because of its slower root growth, could be at a competitive disadvantage under low soil N but its competitive ability against the hawkweed in the field experiment was similar to Nui's over a wide range of N. However, small changes in competitive ability could have large effects on composition in mixed swards containing other species (Lancashire & Brock 1983).…”

Autumn establishment of three New Zealand cultivars of tall fescue(Festuca arundinaceaSchreb.) for seed production

“…Roa tall fescue has always been slow to establish (Brock et al 1982), a problem common to many cultivars of tall fescue when compared with quick-establishing ryegrass. Two new tall fescue cultivars have recently been bred by AgResearch Grasslands-cv.…”

Incidencia de variables biológicas y edáficas en el establecimiento de mezclas forrajeras

“…En raigrás anual, que posee menor tamaño de semillas en comparación con otras gramíneas, su mayor establecimiento comparativamente con gramíneas perennes, tales como festuca, se pudo deber a la mayor tasa de crecimiento relativa (Garnier, 1992) que resulta en plantas más desarrollas que compiten mejor por recursos limitantes en un período de tiempo dado. Además ésta especie, presenta mayor tasa de movilización de reservas de almidón del endosperma hacia el embrión, que especies perennes como la festuca (Brock et al, 1982), posibilitando el logro de un mayor vigor de plántulas.…”

“…Una característica importante de las semillas es su capacidad de movilizar reservas de carbohidratos desde el endosperma hacia los puntos de crecimiento, existiendo diferencias entre especies en la rapidez de movilización de reservas (Askin, 1994) que determinan diferencias en la velocidad de germinación; el raigrás anual es un claro ejemplo de esto, presenta mayor tasa de desdoblamiento del endosperma, comparativamente a otras gramíneas (Brock et al, 1982).…”