Investigation of Sticky Mouse-ear Chickweed (Cerastium glomeratum) Germination Characteristics and Herbicides Screening for its Management in Korea

Chang-Wook Park1   Arjun Adhikari1   Eun-Jung Park2   Sang-Mo Kang1   In-Jung Lee1,*   

1Department of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea
2Division of Plant Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea

Abstract

Invasive species such as exotic weed incidence on agricultural land has been a major threat for agri-ecosystem. Cerastium glomeratum (sticky mouse-ear chickweed) is a dominant exotic weed that is often found in waysides and farmlands of Korea. This study evaluated the pre- and post-emergence control measures of C. glomeratum through the application of various herbicides. Additionally, germination characteristics were investigated under various conditions, such as light and dark conditions as well as various temperatures, periods and soil depths. Results showed that, germination was ceased below 15℃ or above 25℃. At 15℃ under the light conditions, no germination was observed until 5 days after sowing (DAS). However, in the dark, 20% of the seeds were germinated by 5 DAS. Contrastingly, by the end of 25 DAS, the germination rate at 15℃ in the light increased to 45% but remained at 23% in the dark. At 25℃, the germination rates at 25 DAS were 28% and 33% in the light and dark, respectively. The plant height at 25 DAS was significantly higher at 15℃ than at 25℃ under both dark and light conditions. Moreover, seeds sown at 1 cm showed higher shoot and root lengths and germination rate (52%) at 25 DAS. The herbicide indaziflam and pendimethalin had 100% control over the weed growth as pre-emergence application and the foliar application of all the herbicides tested had a control range of (80-84%). These results can facilitate the selection of efficient herbicides and appropriate application doses to control sticky chickweed.

Figures & Tables

Fig. 1.Germination characteristics of at various temperature under light. (A) Germination rate and (B) shoot length. Error bars represent standard deviations. Each data point represents the mean of at least six replications. DAS: Days after sowing. a-c: Bars with different letters are significantly different from each other at P≤ 0.05.