Biology of Euphorbia prunifolia jacq. seeds

• Main Authors: Chin, Hoong Fong, M. Ali, Sabudin
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: Organising committee of Eighth Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society Conference 1981
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/47016/1/Biology%20of%20Euphorbia%20prunifolia%20Jacq.seeds.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/47016/
• Institution: Universiti Putra Malaysia

Euphorbia prunifolia Jacq. has a very short life cycle of 3 months and each plant is capable of producing an average of 720 seeds. An estimated 720.7 million seeds can be produced from a hectare in a season. From soil samples, 30 million seeds are found in the top 10 cm of soil. Seeds remain viable and dormant for a long period buried in soil, they germinate readily once brought to soil surface. Mature as well as immature seeds from green pods germinate readily with 90 -100% germination. Dry and moist heat treatment at above 50° C for 48 hr reduce their germination and killed seeds at 60° C. Moist heat is more effective, at 45° C there is a significant drop in percentage germination. Polythene sheets placed on top of soil raised soil temperature from 40° C to 66° C at noon and prevented the germination of these seeds. Thus polythene sheets can be used especially in undisturbed soil of minimal tillage to control Euphorbia prunifolia in annual crops..