Response of hybrid bermudagrass to sulfur application

Abstract

The S requirement of crops has traditionally been meet by using S‐containing fertilizers and the S in rainfall. With the reduction of S in these sources, S deficiencies are becoming more widespread. Over four million hectares of the genus Cynodon are grown in the southeastern U. S. for forage. The primary objective of this study was to measure the response of ‘Coastal’ and ‘Alicia’ bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] to S application. Sulfur was applied to established stands in May annually for three years. Soil type was Marietta fine sandy loam (fine‐loamy, silicious, thermic Fluvaquentic Eutrochrept). Yield data were collected by clipping a swath through the length of each plot when the forage on the lowest yielding plot had reached a height of approximately 30 cm. A response to S application was obtained each year for the first clipping only. Regression analyses indicated that maximum yield of Coastal and Alicia cultivars was obtained with 13 and 16 kg S/ha, respectively. The maximum yield of Coastal corresponded to a forage S concentration of 2.0 g/kg, N/S ratio of 11, and P/S ratio of 1.7. Maximum yield of Alicia was obtained at 2.1 g S/kg, N/S ratio of 10, and P/S ratio of 1.6. Sulfur concentrations for the second and third clippings were below those for the first clipping. Both N/S and P/S ratios for the third clipping were above those for the first clipping, yet there was no response to applied S for either the second or third clipping. If S concentration, N/S ratio or P/S ratio are to be used to predict the response to applied S, they should be limited to the first clipping.

Notes

Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station. Journal Series No. J‐7313.