Department of Crop Production, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
IInd Intemational Symposium on plant health in urban horticulture., Berlin, Germany, 27–29 August 2003 233–234, (2003).
This study evaluated the allelopathic effect of horse weed (Conyza albida) on Poa pratensis, Lolium perenne, Festuca arundinacea, Pennisetum clandestinum and Dichondra repens under in-vivo and in vitro conditions. In the in-vivo tests, leaf tissues from horseweed were incorporated in a perlite substrate and their effects on top and root growth of the selected turf grass species were evaluated. In the in-vitro tests, extracts from dried leaf tissues of horseweed were tested for their inhibitory effect on the root growth of the selected species. Growth inhibition was found to be species-specific and significantly dependent on extract application rate. In general, Pennisetum clandestinum was the most tolerant species, while Poa pratensis was the most sensitive. The contrasting effect of horseweed was attributed to the varying tolerance of the turf grass species to the water-soluble phytotoxic substances (allelochemicals) present in the extract.
