Establishment of grasses on West Coast pakihi soils

Abstract

Abstract The effect of time of sowing grass, rate of lime application, and coating of clover seed on pasture establishment and yield was investigated on 2 acid, low fertility West Coast pakihi soils. The grasses sown were ‘Grasslands Manawa’ ryegrass (Lolium perenne), ‘Grasslands Apanui’ cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), and ‘Grasslands Kahu’ timothy (Phleum pratense), and the clovers were ‘Grasslands Huia’ white clover (Trifolium repens) and ‘Grasslands Pawera’ red clover, Trifolium pratense). The clover component of the pasture was sown in spring 1975. Grasses sown in the autumn after the spring sowing of the clover, established better than grasses sown with the clover. However, total pasture yield in the following year was not improved by delaying grass sowing until the autumn. Coating the clover seed had little effect on grass establishment and yield or on total pasture yield. Reducing the initial lime application from 3 000 kg/ha to 1 000 kg/ha generally had a detrimental effect.