Wpływ stopnia dojrzałości wiech na wartość siewną nasion Festuca pratensis

The aim of this study conducted in the years 2006–2008 was to evaluate the effect of harvest date and varietal variation on sowing value of seeds threshed and shattered from panicles with different degree of maturity in four meadow fescue cultivars. Germinability as well as weight of 1000 seeds were strongly affected by varietal factor and interaction of this factor with harvest date in successive years. Seeds threshed from panicles in the third degree of maturity were characterized by high germinability (84%) but the highest value of this index (87%) was estimated for seeds obtained during induced shattering, notwithstanding the lowest weight of 1000 shattered seeds (2.115 g). Inconsiderable variation of germinability of threshed seeds between applied dates of harvest in analyzed three-year period points to the possibility of harvesting at the earlier date to reduce losses in seed yield caused by shattering process.