[RWG] Allelopathy knowledge can save a lot of time when weeding+restoring areas

[Wayne Tyson]

All:

Harrison's recommendation is sound; in fact, if I were going to do it at 
all, I would do it even earlier. I'm certainly in favor of straw of 
indigenous species over the alien kind, although I would want it to come 
from a weed-free stand. The various Leymus hybrids often form pure stands, 
but "pure" fertile Leymus triticoides is increasingly difficult to find 
(except for the imported aliens from Utah and Wyoming). My jury's still out 
on whether or not those plants and seeds should be imported to California 
(those which evolved under the continental climate at least one major 
mountain range away) might or might not "fit" in the coastal zones. Any 
ideas on this? While I heartily support Dremann's recommendation about 
"local" straw, there has been so much importation already, one might get the 
Intermountain strains. Mind you, I am not a genetic purist; in fact I tend 
to be in favor of diversity--as long as I actually know what the results are 
likely to be.

WT

PS: What should "we" do with seedsmen and others who knowingly disperse 
alien species all over the world?


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company" <Craig at astreet.com>
To: "Ty Harrison" <tyju at xmission.com>
Cc: <apwg at lists.plantconservation.org>; <rwg at lists.plantconservation.org>; 
<ialm at erols.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2011 11:13 AM
Subject: Re: [RWG] Allelopathy knowledge can save a lot of time when 
weeding+restoring areas


> Dear Ty and All,
>
> Thank you for your email.
>
> Yes, I came to the same conclusion myself and the 100 pound bale is now
> covering 300 square feet at two inches deep in my test plots this week.
>
> Everyone across the country should try their owm local straw, especially
> the Elymus species, and for every hand full of weeds that you pull, lay
> down a hand full of native straw.
>
> It is like evicting the bad tenants, but you want to put good tenant in
> their place, so you do not end up hanging out a <Vacancy> sign.
>
> I have been using regular wheat straw in my garden for years, for its
> allelopathic effects, and have not had to pull many weeds for decades.
>
> Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333
>
>
>> Craig et al.:  It will be interesting to see the results of your Nasella
>> pulchra straw mulch on the germination of the exotic annual weeds in Palo
>> Alto.  Might I suggest scattering the straw prior to the soaking fall
>> rains
>> which trigger the annual's germination, rather than waiting for them to
>> germinate and then applying the native grass straw mulch.  I think that
>> allelochemics work in various ways (both germination inhibition as well 
>> as
>> radicle growth inhibition) but I suspect that having the germinating weed
>> seed exposed to the chemicals leached into the soil during the 
>> germination
>> process may give better control.  This is like the classical alllopathic
>> seed germination assay tests on moist filter paper but doing it in the
>> soil
>> (microbes and all).  Regards,  Ty Harrison
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company" <Craig at astreet.com>
>> To: "Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company" <Craig at astreet.com>
>> Cc: "Ty Harrison" <tyju at xmission.com>; "Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed
>> Company" <craig at astreet.com>; <ialm at erols.com>;
>> <apwg at lists.plantconservation.org>; <rwg at lists.plantconservation.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2011 10:34 AM
>> Subject: Allelopathy knowledge can save a lot of time when
>> weeding+restoring
>> areas
>>
>>
>>> Dear Ty and All,
>>>
>>> Knowing which native plant give off the strongest herbicides and which
>>> are
>>> the strongest weeds, can make you weeding life so much easier, and you
>>> can
>>> have the native plants help you as allies in your efforts.
>>>
>>> For example, yesterday I drove 400 miles round trip, just to pick up a
>>> single bale of Stipa native grass straw, Nassella pulchra, whose straw
>>> contains one of the strongest herbicides of our native grasses.  It was
>>> like buying a 5 gallon bucket of Roundup in a bale.
>>>
>>> I am working on some test plots in the hills of Palo Alto, a beautiful
>>> 70
>>> acre canvas that is currently solid exotic grasses, and I want to see
>>> what
>>> can be done, to get it back to 99.5% native plant cover.
>>>
>>> So in test plots last year, I looked at the interaction between adding
>>> fertilizers to modify the weed cover, and also adding California
>>> poppies,
>>> that you can see photos at http://www.ecoseeds.com/arastradero.html
>>>
>>> The ideal situation is if you are left with any weeds, you want to get
>>> all
>>> perennial rye plants, rather than any wild oats, ripgut, blando,
>>> foxtails
>>> or zorro grass, because the perennial rye has the weakest herbicide
>>> effects of the six grasses.
>>>
>>> So what I am going to do, is wait until the first rains bring up the
>>> weed
>>> seeds, scatter a thin layer of Stipa straw on top of them, add poppy
>>> seeds
>>> plus fertilizers, and wait 3-4 months and see what I get, like baking a
>>> cake but it takes a little longer.
>>>
>>> What I am hoping for is no foxtails, zorro, ripgut, blando, or wild
>>> oats,
>>> maybe <5% cover of perennial rye and 95% cover of the poppies.  Then
>>> next
>>> autumn, start sowing in the local native grass seeds, like the Stipa
>>> itself.
>>>
>>> So I am going to give the weeds a double dose of allelopathy, first with
>>> the Stipa straw, then with the poppy plants producing it in their
>>> roots--
>>> especially effective against annual grasses.
>>>
>>> You can think about this allelopathy issue, as the land is one big giant
>>> petri dish.  And all the plants, all of the natives and all the weeds,
>>> are
>>> each giving off herbicide-like chemicals like antibiotics at a greater
>>> or
>>> less amount.  We need to go out and see what the relationships are, and
>>> use them to our advantage.
>>>
>>> Many of our Endanagered plant and animal species in the West are
>>> grassland
>>> species, and knowing which weeds are the most toxic against the native
>>> plants, and knowing which native plants are the strongest against the
>>> weeds, can help save a lot of time and effort when managing or
>>> recovering
>>> those species.
>>>
>>> Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>
>
>
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