Planting depth and soil texture effects on emergence and production of three alkali sacaton accessions

Abstract

Pure stands of alkali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides) once grew on playas and lowland alluvial flood plains, as well as on surrounding hills and terraces in semiarid areas of North America. Stands have all but disappeared on hills and terraces in the past 100 years. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the establishment and initial production characteristics of 3 alkali sacaton accessions when seeds were sown at various depths in 3 soils where soluble salts and exchangeable sodium do not accumulate. 'Saltalk', 'NM-184' and 'DU-82' accessions were sown at 5 depths in Pima finesilty, Sonoita coarse-loam, and Comoro coarse-loam soils in a greenhouse. Seedling emergence from seed sown at 5 mm was greater than for seed sown at 0, 10, 15, and 20 mm in Comoro (sandy), but was equal at all depths in the cracking Pima soil. Above- and below-ground biomass were greatest in Comoro, intermediate in Pima, and lowest in Sonoita soils, but differences were not always significant. The 3 accessions responded similarly to planting depth within a soil, although initial emergence counts indicate differences among accessions.