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Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Volume 31, Number 2 (1980) → Green Manure Of Sorghum-Sudan: Its Toxicity To Pine Seedlings

Green Manure Of Sorghum-Sudan: Its Toxicity To Pine Seedlings

In recent years, green manuring with sorghum-Sudan, or Hyden grass, has become considerably more popular among some nursery workers. In part, the use of these rapidly growing annuals was stimulated by the assumption that the toxic excretions of these plants, or their residues, would control Cylindrocladium floridanum and other root rot fungi. The phytotoxicity of either component of these hybrids, which contain hydrdcyanic acid, is well established. In time of drought, Sudan pastures have been responsible for the mortality of livestock (3). On the other hand, sorghum residues contain highly concentrated phytotoxins, which inhibit the growth of crops even after 16 weeks of decomposition (1, 2). These observations suggest that green manure of sorghum-Sudan may unfavorably influence the growth of nursery stock. In consequence, a study of the effect of sorghum-Sudan on seedlings of several pine species was conducted under controlled conditions.


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Author(s): Jaya G. Iyer, S. A. Wilde, R. B. Corey

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 31, Number 2 (1980)

Section: General

Volume: 31

Number: 2