Growing Degree-day Influence on Sprigged Buffalograss Establishment.

Successful sprigging of buffalograss [Buchloë dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.] has been unreliable for unknown reasons. The objectives of this study were to determine the growing degree-days (GDD) of harvested material, environment and their interactions on buffalograss sprig establishment. The study was initiated in 2007 with two field locations, representing diverse environments, at the John Seaton Anderson Turfgrass Research Facility located near Mead, NE, and one greenhouse location, at Lincoln, NE, were used for this investigation. The soil for all locations was a Tomek silty-clay loam (fine, smectitic, mesic Pachic Agriudolls). Two genotypes, ‘Prestige’ and ‘Legacy’, were sprigged at two-week intervals from June 29 to August 15. Sprigs were harvested from mature turfgrass stands grown at Mead. Visual percent cover ratings were made every two weeks from July 16 to October 8. Aboveground biomass was measured on October 13 and 21 in the greenhouse and field studies, respectively at all locations. The 1047 GDD sprigging reached full cover by October 8. In the greenhouse, sprigging at 1379 GDD did establish, 71% cover, while sprigging with 1665, and 1979 GDD established poorly. In the greenhouse, ‘Prestige’ had superior cover compared to ‘Legacy’ at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks post sprigging, but no differences were observed after 10 weeks between the genotypes. Sprigging at 1379, 1665, and 1979 GDD failed to establish at both field locations. Although the environment and genotype do play a role in successful establishment, they are not major factors. GDD did prove to be a major contributor to successful establishment, suggesting that sprigging after to 1047 GDD will not be successful. Further study of buffalograss sprigging establishment prior to 1047 GDD should be investigated to better understand the GDD influence.