Plant Materials Today, July 2009 Issue

A Quarterly Newsletter of the Montana/Wyoming Plant Materials Program

If you encounter any problems with the file provided on this page, please contact Technical Resources at 406-587-6822.

Volume 16, Number 3, July 2009.

This is a quarterly field office newsletter to transfer plant materials technology, services, and needs. The plant materials personnel will be featuring short articles on project results, new cultivar releases and establishment techniques, seed collection, field planting needs, etc. All offices are encouraged to submit articles about plant material-related activities relative to plant performance, adaptation, cultural and management techniques, etc. Direct inquiries to USDA NRCS, Plant Materials Center, 98 South River Road, Bridger, MT 59014, Phone 406-662-3579, Fax 406-662-3428; or Ron Nadwornick, State Resource Conservationist, USDA NRCS Montana State Office, Federal Building, Room 443, 10 East Babcock Street, Bozeman, MT 59715-4704, Phone 406-587-6998, Fax 406-587-6761.

• Montana Employees Receive PMC Training
• Results of the PMC Training Seedbed Exercise
• Subirrigation Tube Study – 4-Year Results
• New Employee on Yellowstone National Park (YNP) Project
• 2009 Seed Collection Reminder

This newsletter is also available in Adobe Reader format.

Plant Materials Today, July 2009 (PDF; 108 KB)

Montana Employees Receive Plant Materials Center (PMC) Training

Twenty-eight NRCS and Conservation District employees attended a 2-day plant materials training session at the Bridger PMC (BPMC) from June 23 through 25. The training is normally held every 2 years, alternating with our biennial field day. The session was designed for newer employees and those who have not had the training before. By becoming aware that valuable technical support to NRCS field offices is the primary function of any PMC, the trainees learned of the many resources available to them in completing their conservation program work with clients.

Hands-on training included selecting cultivars and other commercially available plant materials for revegetation projects, proper drill calibration, various seedbed preparation techniques involving eight seeding treatments and a seedling emergence study of ‘Pryor’ slender wheatgrass (see results below), commercial seed tag exercises, and correct formulation of seed mixes for pasture and hay plantings according to the Montana Conservation Practice Job Sheet 512. In addition, a tour was held of the BPMC’s foundation and initial increase of herbaceous and woody seed production fields, greenhouse activities, research plots, and seed cleaning and farming equipment.

It was a lot of information to pack into a 2-day seminar, and the BPMC staff would like to thank the attendees for their interest and enthusiasm. On that note, because of the interest expressed by trainee evaluations and other field office staff in Montana and Wyoming, an additional, more advanced training is being discussed for future years and would be held a week prior to Field Day. Stay tuned for an announcement from Jim Jacobs on this issue.

By Roger Hybner, PMC Manager

Results of the PMC Training Seedbed Exercise

Seedbed preparation and seeding method are two important considerations when planning a seeding. For successful stand establishment, there must be good seed/soil contact, seeds placed at the optimum depth in the soil, and uniform distribution. These conditions are normally achieved with a smooth (clod-free), firm seedbed, using a drill to place the seed at the proper depth, uniformly, with good soil contact. Our planting standards and specifications encourage these conditions and methods. To show this at our recent PMC training, we set up a demonstration with three seedbed preparation treatments and eight seeding methods, seeded with 'Pryor' slender wheatgrass. We put the trainees to work counting seedlings and measuring their heights in each plot. The results were a little surprising.

The demonstration was set up as a split-plot design. The three seedbed preparation whole-plot treatments that demonstrated different seedbed textures and firmness were triple K, complete (plow, roller harrow, level), and plow. The eight subplot seeding method treatments were drill 6 pounds/acre, drill 6 pounds/acre with a barley nurse crop, drill 12 pounds/acre, drill 12 pounds/acre with a barley nurse crop, broadcast 12 pounds/acre, broadcast 12 pounds/acre followed by harrowing, drill barley nurse crop followed by broadcast 12 pounds/acre and harrow, and broadcast 12 pounds/acre followed by drill barley nurse crop and harrow. The treatments were not replicated, so each sampling crew was considered a replication. The sampling density counts and height measurements were analyzed using ANOVA to determine treatment effects on seedling counts and height.

We expected the best establishment in the drill-seeded treatments, but this was generally not the case. Average densities for the drill-seeding treatments ranged from 1 to 10 seedlings per square foot, whereas the densities in the broadcast treatments ranged from 8 to 26 seedlings per square foot. The target seedling density was 25 seedlings per square foot. So, why the low establishment in the drill-seeded plots? We do not know for sure, but the most likely reasons are the drill delivered too few seeds (calibration) or the seeds were placed too deep in the soil. Considering slender wheatgrass is a native species, establishment may be affected more by seeding depth than nonnative grasses would be affected.

There were no significant differences in seedling counts among the four drill seeding treatments regardless of the seedbed treatment. However, increasing the seeding rate from 6 to 12 pounds/acre resulted in a six-fold increase in seedlings counted. This trend supports doubling the seeding rate on critical area plantings where drill seeding is used.

There were significant differences in seedling counts among the broadcast treatments. Harrowing after broadcast seeding increased seedling counts by about five seedlings per square foot. The nurse crop had little or no influence on seedling counts in the broadcast treatments. The seedbed treatment did make a difference in density counts where seeds were broadcast and harrowed in the plowed seedbed (26 seeds per square foot) compared to the complete (smooth and firm) seedbed (8 seeds per square foot). Based on our planting specifications, this is counter to what we might expect; that is we expect better establishment on a firm, smooth seedbed.

But, is it really surprising? A broadcast seed will establish if it falls into a nook or cranny in the soil where it will have good soil contact as opposed to laying on the soil surface. The likelihood of this happening is greater on a rough-plowed surface than a smooth surface because there are more nooks and crannies on a rough surface. Also, dragging a harrow over a rough surface, rather than a smooth surface, is more likely to push a seed into a safe site. Therefore, when we broadcast seed, are we better off using a one-pass soil-roughing treatment and saving the producer some time and money, or is it better to put the effort into creating a firm seedbed? The answer depends on other factors, including how weedy the site is. Turning the soil under with a plow may also reduce weeds by burying their seeds.

Seedbed treatment did not affect height growth of the seedlings. The shortest seedlings were in the treatment where 6 pounds/acre were drill seeded. Since height is an indicator of vigor, this result may not be a function of the treatments, but the amount of weeds in the plots. The barley nurse crop did not affect seedling height growth.

By Jim Jacobs, Plant Materials Specialist

Subirrigation Tube Study – 4-Year Results

In 2005, the Bridger PMC, in cooperation with the Miles City Area Office (Robert Kilian), Little Beaver Conservation District, and Montana Conservation Seedling Nursery, began a research project investigating the use of PVC pipe to deliver water directly to the developing roots of tree seedlings. Two replicated plots were installed—one maintained fallow; one installed in a thickspike wheatgrass cover. Four species were tested: green ash, bur oak, ponderosa pine, and Rocky Mountain juniper. Half the seedlings received supplemental water on top of the soil surface; half the seedlings were irrigated via 36-inch long tubes buried approximately 30 inches in the soil. The 4-inch diameter pipe had 2-inch horizontal slots every 2 inches along the 30-inch section buried in the soil. A solid 30-inch extension was later added aboveground to increase total storage capacity from 1.9 gallons to 3.7 gallons.

So, what have we learned after 4 years of field-testing? Well, quite a bit. The difference in height growth and vigor rating between the fallow and vegetated plots is startling, with tremendously more growth and better vigor on the fallow plot. Surprisingly, seedling survival remained relatively high on the vegetated plot the first three growing seasons, although it is now beginning to decline. As for the effects of subirrigation tubes, only green ash in the fallow plot demonstrated statistically superior height growth and vigor when irrigated with the tubes. We theorize that the fast-growing roots of green ash grew over to the tubes and accessed the supplemental water more quickly than the other species tested.

In summary, subirrigation tubes offer some potential seedling establishment benefits, but success will depend on how the tubes are designed and installed, their proximity to the seedling, species planted, what kind of container the seedlings are grown in, local climate, soils, irrigation management (how much water per application, number of applications, application frequency), and probably other factors. Our advice: place a 4-inch diameter, 36-inch long piece of PVC as close as possible to the seedling. Make 3 to 4 horizontal slots about 2 inches apart on the buried end of the pipe and then make sure the pipe is buried 6 to 8 inches and well packed with soil. Seal the inside base of the pipe with bentonite clay or a PVC cap. And, especially important, control all competing vegetation 1 year prior to planting and then for the life of the planting or at least until seedlings establish well.

For more details, go to the Montana NRCS Web site under Plant Materials Technical Notes for "Effects of Water Delivery Method and Herbaceous Competition on Seedling Survival, Height Growth, and Vigor Rating: 4-Year Summary Results" in the coming weeks.

By Joe Scianna, PMC Horticulturist

New Employee on YNP Project

Andrea (Andi) Pierson was recently hired to assist in all aspects of the BPMC’s YNP Interagency Agreement. Andi is a recent graduate of Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, where she was awarded the Agriculture Program’s “Outstanding Student of the Year.” While at the PMC, she is busy honing her farming and ranching skills in such tasks as irrigation, cultivation, herbicide application, and seed harvest, just to name a few. Andi will be attending Montana State University, Bozeman, with environmental coursework emphasizing water resources and soil science. Her family resides in Bridger, and we will be lucky to have her complete tenure at the PMC during winter and spring breaks, with heavy competition from putting her horses through their paces.

By Susan R. Winslow, PMC Agronomist

2009 Seed Collection Reminder

Seed collection has started for the summer with eight collections of bluebunch wheatgrass so far, including collections from Sanders, Lake, Missoula, Carbon, Gallatin, and Big Horn counties in Montana. Some of the bluebunch wheatgrass seed in the Bozeman area is not quite ripe but, with the hot weather, will be ready for collection soon. On the Carbella site north of Gardiner, we had the opportunity to watch a “Native Seedster” seed harvester pluck seed from a stand of bluebunch wheatgrass. The Native Seedster attaches to the loader of a tractor and uses hydraulics to turn a brush and comb roller that plucks only the ripe seed and deposits it in a hopper. More information on the Native Seedster can be found at NativeSeedsters. The amount of seed collected by the Native Seedster will be increased for YNP’s Northern Boundary project. Additional collections include prairie thermopsis Thermopsis rhombifolia, false dandelion Agoseris glauca, and groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus.

Susan Winslow and I scouted for and found populations of larchleaf penstemon Penstemon laricifolius last week in the foothills of the Pryor Mountains at about 5,000 feet elevation. They were blooming but did not have ripe seed. We found these populations in open sagebrush communities on coarse soils. We also saw a sage grouse.

This season we are focusing seed collections on nine species in Montana and Wyoming. We are continuing collection of silverleaf Indian breadroot Pediomelum argophyllum (synonym Psoralea argophylla), large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum (synonym Psoralea esculenta), slimflower scurfpea Psoralidium tenuiflorum (synonym Psoralea tenuiflora), and bluebunch wheatgrass Pseudoroegneria spicata (synonym Agropyron spicatum). New to the list this year are riverbank grape Vitis riparia, meadow milkvetch Astragalus diversifolius, Canadian milkvetch Astragalus canadensis, lesser rushy milkvetch Astragalus convallarius var. convallarius, and larchleaf penstemon Penstemon laricifolius.

Astragalus diversifolius is rare (G3 ranking) and likely to be found in moist, often alkaline meadows and swales in sagebrush valleys at 4,400 to 6,300 feet. If you find a population, please contact Jim Jacobs before collecting any plant materials of this species. Astragalus convallarius var. convallarius grows on hills, slopes, and meadows at 4,300 to 7,000 feet; it has been collected in Uinta County, Wyoming. Penstemon laricifolius occurs in sandy, often limestone-derived soils in juniper, curl-leaf mountain mahogany, and little sagebrush woodlands and shrublands typically between 4,500 and 6,000 feet and has been found in Park, Big Horn, and Fremont counties, Wyoming. Vitis riparia is common on moist woodland edges and openings and in areas along rivers, lakes, ditches, fencerows, roadsides, and railroads.

When scouting around for likely sites in which to make seed collections, look for populations of healthy plants growing in harsher than normal conditions. Specific guidelines for seed collecting can be found in an online technical note at the Web sites mentioned below. Collections are needed from all areas in Montana and Wyoming.

A bulletin was distributed electronically to each field office in Montana (MT190-9-4) and Wyoming (WY-190-09-02) to provide guidance on accessing the seed collection instructions. For immediate access to the respective guidance documents, species descriptions, and photos, go to the Montana Seed Collection List. Seed is subsequently planted in evaluation studies to test performance and utility for solving conservation problems outlined in the "Plant Materials Long-Range Plans" for Montana and Wyoming.

By Jim Jacobs, Plant Materials Specialist

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Last Modified: 07/28/2009