Inhibitory Effects of Common Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) Seeds on Seed Germination of Maize (Zea mayz) and Shattercane (Sorghum bicolor)

Most allelopathic studies have demonstrated the importance of live and dead plant tissues as source of allelochemicals. Seeds of several species also have inhibitory effects on germination of the same or other species. In order to determine the allelopathic effects of common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) seeds, an experiment was conducted under controlled conditions in Birjand University, IRAN. The laboratory experiments were carried out in a completely randomized block design with 6 replications. Four treatments of each crop species were consisted of 15 seeds of shattercane (Sorghum bicolor) and/or 10 seeds of maize (Zea mays) with 0, 200, 400 and 600 seeds of common lambsquarters that were equally distributed around seeds of both crop species. Results indicated as the number of weed seeds increased, the crop germination percentage was decreased significantly. There were significant effects of neighboring weed seeds on coleoptile and radicle length, number of secondary and adventitious roots and length of secondary and adventitious roots of crop species.