Stolon Planting Rate Effects on Tifton 85 Bermudagrass Establishment.

Cultivar Tifton 85 bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) is often propagated using stolons, but the planting rate required for successful establishment varies under different soil conditions and on‐farm irrigation management. In the sandy soils of the U.S. Gulf Coast, desiccation of planting material can occur rapidly even under irrigated conditions due to variable on‐farm irrigation management, and few studies have evaluated stolon planting rate effects under these conditions. The objective was to assess the effect of stolon planting densities on establishment of Tifton 85. Treatments in this 2‐yr field study were five planting rates including 1120, 1570, 2020, 2470, and 2920 kg ha−1 arranged in four replicates of a randomized complete block design. Increasing planting rates increased bermudagrass frequency, ground cover, and dry matter harvested and decreased weed cover. All treatments had >80% bermudagrass frequency of occurrence and ground cover 3 mo after planting in 2011, but the three greatest planting rates achieved 80% frequency at 40 days after planting (DAP) compared with 68 DAP for the other treatments. In 2012, no treatment reached 80% frequency or ground cover until 118 DAP. The lowest stolon‐planting rate had 38% weed cover in April the year following planting compared with <15% for the three greatest planting rates. Independent of the year, the three highest rates presented greater cumulative herbage harvested than the lowest densities. These data suggest that planting rates of 2000 kg ha−1 or greater will likely be required to achieve rapid and successful Tifton 85 establishment in sandy soil environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]