The influence of fertilizer regimes and water deoths on clonal growth, phenology and chlorophyll content of scirpus grossus in paddy soil

• Main Authors: Mohammad Moneruzzaman, Khandaker, Ali, Majrashi, Baki, Bakar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: S Agriculture (General); SB Plant culture
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/4557/1/FH02-FBIM-14-02039.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/4557/
• Institution: Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

Scirpus grossus L. is a principal rhizomatous weed in the rice fields, drainage and irrigation canals, river banks, abandoned rice fields and wasteland in Malaysia. This study describes the spatio-temporal growth patterns of aerial plant on fertilized and unfertilized paddy soils. The fertilizer application resulted in more robust aerial plant growth of S. grossus with gross population of 97.08 ramets m2 compared with 83.67 ramets m-2 in unfertilized plots 24 weeks after planting of the mother plant. Mean ramets mortality was significantly higher in unfertilized plots than the fertilized plots. flowering set in earlier among ramets in fertilized paddy soils with 49.56 ramets m-2 vis-a-vis the unfertilized soil registering ca. 47.79 ramets m-2, 24 weeks after transplanting of the mother plant. The results showed that S. grossus started to flower at weeks 8 under 5 cm and 9th week under 0 cm and highest inflorescence number were recorded at 5 cm water depth. Fertilizer applications did not register any significant difference in mean plant height, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence measurements and inflorescence production vis-a-vis those devoid of fertilizer application. However, there was a clear reduction in the chlorophyll content when the plants were grown under 20 cm of water in the presence of fertilizers. The time-and space-mediated clonal growth of S. grossus did not register any significant preferential directionality and dispersion of aerial plants irrespective of fertilizer regimes and water depths but rather displaying opportunistic resource capture by aerial and sub-terranean modules.