Creeping Bent [Agrostis stolonifera]

Pest Profile

About the pest

About the weed

It is a close-tufted, perennial grass 8 - 40cm tall, spreading by means of fine stolons which produce small roots when in contact with water or moist soil. Leaves are long, narrow and pointed. The flowerhead forms an open dainty cylinder.

Key features

Plant: Leaves are green or greyish-green and hairless; sheaths are rounded and smooth.

Flowers: The flowerheads are upright, cylindrical and usually open.

Biology

Creeping bent can be a weed of headlands, but seldom goes far into arable fields. The plants can overwinter. In arable fields propagation by detached shoots is an important means of spread.

Symptoms & Diagnosis

Life Cycle

Seed weight: 0.067 mg

Seeds/head: 100

Seeds/plant: 1000 - 10 000

Treatment

Management

Spring cropping can reduce the vigour. Reasonable control of creeping bent stolons can be achieved with glyphosate, most effectively in uncropped land or summer fallows, but pre-harvest in early-harvested crops. Some residual herbicides may effect seedlings. Early cultivations can stimulate shed seed to germinate, so stale seedbeds may be used to control the young germinating plants, which can be killed by subsequent cultivation.