Effect of shade on performance of St. Augustine cultivars

Resumen

Five St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] cultivars were evaluated for shade tolerance in a greenhouse study at the University of Florida. Cultivars ‘Amerishade’, ‘Delmar’, ‘DeltaShade’, ‘Floratam’, and ‘Palmetto’ were placed in full sun or under shade structures that provided 30%, 50%, or 70% shade in a glasshouse at the Turfgrass Research Envirotron in Gainesville. Evaluations were taken for visual quality, color, and density, leaf clipping weights, leaf length and width, and multispectral refl ectance. For the majority of measurements, the cultivars Amerishade and Delmar were the best performers. They maintained acceptable quality levels up to 62% and 55% shade, respectively. Worst performance in shade or sun was seen in ‘Floratam’. Clipping weight declined in all cultivars as shade increased, in spite of increasing leaf length in shade. Refl ectance scores showed that there were signifi cant differences in light attenuation between cultivars.