A method to obtain fast and uniform emergence of weeds for field experiments

Summary In studies on competition between crops and weeds it may be desirable to manipulate time of emergence, density and spatial arrangement of weeds. This requires a method to obtain a fast and uniform emergence of weeds. Two planting methods were compared that differed in the medium (agar or blotting paper) on which seeds were germinated, and in the method of transplanting the seeds (with or without the medium). In wet soil, emergence started earlier when seeds were germinated on agar and subsequently planted with agar. Root tips of seeds germinated on blotting paper may have been damaged to a greater extent during transplanting, because root tips tended to grow into the blotting paper. The duration, heterogeneity and final level of emergence were not affected by the planting method. In dry soil in a greenhouse experiment, the final level of emergence was much less when seeds were planted using the blotting paper method than when they were planted using the agar method. The agar may have provided a small source of water which reduced dehydration of emerging plants. The results were similar for the three species studies, namely, Chenopodium album L., Senecio vulgaris L. and Solanum nigrum L.