Results of Varying the Date of Seeding and Altering the Spacing of Stands on the Growth of Ears in Spring Oats

Abstract

Experiments were conducted on the effects of varying the date of seeding and altering. the space of individual plants on the growth of the ear and the tiller in spring oats. A spring oats variety, Kairyo-Hadaka was sown at four various seeding rates, i.e. 0.8, 0, 5, 0.2 and 0.08 bushels per acre in rows 2 ft apart, and at five different dates from April 27 to June 22 with 2 week intervals in 1953. Weekly measurements were made on the growth i.e. rate of increase in leaf number and of elongation in culm height and panicle length. Culm height and panicle length at the stage of panicle differentiation were measured by peeling the leaves. From the results it was noted that the number of tiller increased from only one in the plots of highest density of stands to about 15 in the lowest, throughout every date of seeding. The number of leaves and the height of main culm were found not to relate to the date of seeding but to the rate of it. The rate of increase of leaf number in older tillers was found slightly lower as the tiller was younger, but those bearing only three leaves or less did not produce ears though such tillers in spring wheat plants do. Furthermore, the duration of vegetative growth was consistently about 7 weeks in every seeding date. The vegetative growth of this oats variety seemed not to be affected by environmental factors, such as day length or air temperature.