Influence of Seeding Depth and Seedbed Preparation on Establishment, Growth and Yield of Fibre Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) in Eastern Canada

Abstract

Research was conducted at the Macdonald Campus of McGill University (Que´bec, Canada) at three sites in 1997 and one site in 1998 to determine the effects and interactions of seeding depth (0, 1, 2, 4 or 6 cm) and seedbed preparation (i.e. soil rolling): none, rolling before or rolling after seeding on fibre flax (cv. Ariane) establishment, growth and yield. Seedbed preparation had little impact on the parameters measured while seeding depth had a variable effect on plant density, plant height, stem diameter and retted straw yield. Seeding depths of 1-4 cm provided consistently good establishment, growth and yield results. In 1997, there was an interaction between seeding depth and seedbed preparation on plant height, branching ratio and retted straw yield, although results were generally variable and tended to be site-specific. In 1998, there was an interaction between seeding depth and seedbed preparation on plant height and stem diameter prior to harvest, with the results varying for all seeding depth-seedbed preparation treatment combinations except for the 2-cm depth treatment. Rolling of the seedbed before seeding on lighter soils and at a depth of 2 cm on most soils can improve establishment, growth and yields of fibre flax under eastern Canadian growing conditions.

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) Fibers for Composite Reinforcement: Exploring the Link Between Plant Growth, Cell Walls Development, and Fiber Properties

“…Nowadays, for cereals and flax, the similar in-line seeding technique by means of the same types of crop seed drills is used, controlling the line intervals (Summerscales et al, 2010). The line spacing commonly ranges from 10 to 15 cm, usually 12.5 cm for flax (Figure 10A), with a distance between two consecutive seeds of about 0.5 cm (determined by the speed of the drilling machine), leading to about 0.3 cm between two consecutive stems (Couture et al, 2004a,b; ARVALIS - Institut du végétal, 2014).…”

“…Moreover, the special organization of the plants, such as the diverse line spacing, the different arrangement if along the drilling line or perpendicularly previously mentioned, or as illustrated by the different early-emerged versus lately emerged plants special patterns (Fowler, 1984), will impact on the plant competition and so the plant development. For flax, the best way to regulate the homogeneity of plant emergence is to control the sowing depth of simultaneous stands; namely, a sowing depth of 2 cm is preconized for a homogeneous emergence (O’connor and Gusta, 1994; Couture et al, 2004b). To a lesser extent, the seedbed preparation, such as soil rolling especially for lighter soils (Couture et al, 2004b) or the use of medium conservation tillage to prevent soil erosion (Lafond et al, 1996; Couture et al, 2004a), can be a complement to the use of conventional 2-cm sowing depth.…”

“…For flax, the best way to regulate the homogeneity of plant emergence is to control the sowing depth of simultaneous stands; namely, a sowing depth of 2 cm is preconized for a homogeneous emergence (O’connor and Gusta, 1994; Couture et al, 2004b). To a lesser extent, the seedbed preparation, such as soil rolling especially for lighter soils (Couture et al, 2004b) or the use of medium conservation tillage to prevent soil erosion (Lafond et al, 1996; Couture et al, 2004a), can be a complement to the use of conventional 2-cm sowing depth.…”

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“…Minimum biomass yield (30.33 gpot -1 ) was produced at 10 dSm -1 + 30 (mmol L -1 ) 1/2 . Germination and seedling emergence may be influenced by temperature, sowing depth and seedbed conditions like available moisture and salinity [40,41]. Salinity leads to delayed germination and emergence, low seedling survival, irregular crop stand and lower yield due to abnormal morphological, physiological and biochemical changes [42,43].…”

Classification of some Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) Genotypes for Salinity Tolerance using Germination, Seedling Growth, and Ion Content

“…Seedling establishment is generally slow and seedlings have poor competitive ability. Germination and seedling emergence may be influenced by temperature, sowing depth and seedbed conditions like available moisture and salinity (O'Connor and Gusta, 1994;Saeidi and Rowland, 1997;Couture et al, 2004;Kurt L and Bozkurt, 2006). In arid and semi-arid regions where rainfall is insufficient to leach salts out of the root zone, the salinity is a major problem which limits plant growth (Khajeh-Hosseini et al, 2003), since evaporation tends to exceed rainfall (Pessarakli, 1999;Kaya et al, 2003).…”