Effect of cutting and nitrogen fertilization on characteristics of Sorghum halepense L

This research was conducted in order to investigate the effect of cutting frequency and nitrogen fertilization on the performance of Sorghum halepense, The experiment was carried out at the greenhouse of Gonbad Kavous university in 2012. The research plan was designed as a randomized complete block with six replications. The study involved four treatments of cutting, namely frequent cutting (once every week), moderate cutting (every two weeks), low cutting (every three weeks) and control (at the end of the experiment) and four nitrogen treatments with four levels (non fertilizer, 100, 200 and 300 kg/ha). Measured characteristics such as plant height, ramet number, rhizome number, rhizome length, distance between nodes, shoot biomass, rhizome biomass, root biomass, total biomass, shoot biomass allocation, rhizome biomass allocation, root biomass allocation and relative growth rate were measured. All parts of the plants were cut from seven centimeters height in different treatments. The results showed that cutting stress and fertilizers can significantly affect plant height, ramet number, rhizome number, rhizome length, distance between nodes, shoot biomass, rhizome biomass, root biomass, total biomass, shoot biomass allocation, rhizome biomass allocation, root biomass allocation and relative growth rate. Cutting and nitrogen fertilization had a significant effect on all performance characteristics except the distance between nodes, rhizome biomass, shoot biomass allocation and rhizome biomass allocation. Thus, cutting could be a practical way to control this invasive species on farms, since it shows low tolerance against cutting.