Yellow Nutsedge Shoot Emergence and Tuber Longevity

Abstract

Tubers of yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentusL.) were buried in the field 2.5 to 30.5 cm below the surface in November 1969 and 1970 at Urbana, Illinois. In both years, shoots began to emerge the following May and continued emergence until July. Very few additional shoots emerged after July. Shoots emerged from less than 2% of the tubers buried at 2.5 cm; the maximum number of shoots emerged from tubers at the 10.2 and 20.3-cm depths. Tubers at the 2.5 and 5.1-cm depths were more susceptible to winterkill than tubers at lower levels, probably because of the differences in soil temperature at these levels during cold periods. Kinetic analysis of laboratory-determined tuber viability for periods up to 22 months revealed that the half-life was 4.4 and 5.7 months for tubers buried at 10.2 and 20.3 cm, respectively. The extrapolated minimum temperature required for initiation of tuber germination in the laboratory was 12 C. This temperature minimum could not readily be related to initial shoot emergence in the field. The temperature at which 50% of the tubers survived a cold treatment for 4 to 48 hr was −7 C.