Barnyardgrass [Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv. #4 ECHCG] and pigweeds (mixture of Amaranthus retroflexus L. # AMARE and A. powellii S. Wats. # AMAPO) seeded separately with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in mid-August suppressed alfalfa severely before frost killed them in October and November. Some alfalfa was killed, and yield of alfalfa forage was reduced in each of three harvests the following year. These weeds did not harm alfalfa seeded in mid-September. Downy brome (Bromus tectorum L. # BROTE) and tumble mustard (Sisymbrium altissimum L. # SSYAL) suppressed alfalfa seeded in August and September. They reduced alfalfa stands and reduced yield of alfalfa forage in each of three harvests the following year. Alfalfa seeded August 27 and allowed to compete with a mixture of these species for various periods was injured most by weeds that emerged with the alfalfa and remained uncontrolled until forage harvest in May. These weeds did not reduce alfalfa yields if removed by 36 days after alfalfa emergence. Thereafter, yield decreased as the period of weed interference increased. Interference was most damaging in early spring, when growth of winter annual weeds was rapid and vigorous. Weeds seeded 65 or more days after alfalfa emergence did not reduce alfalfa yields but sometimes produced enough biomass to reduce the quality of the first-cutting alfalfa hay.

Seeds of Carduus acanthoides, Cynara cardunculus, Cirsium vulgare, Brassica campestris, and Sisymbrium altissimum were incubated at a range of decreasing osmotic potentials (Ψo) under fluctuating temperatures or the median temperature of the fluctuation cycle. Fluctuating temperatures promoted total seed germination in water and at reduced osmotic potential. Total germination was reduced as the Ψo decreased. However, this trend was smallest under fluctuating temperatures, signalling a higher tolerance of seeds to reduced osmotic potential. Effects of osmoticum and temperature were modelled with the hydrotime model. The parameters estimated from the model, the hydrotime constant (θH), the mean base water potential Ψb(50) and its standard deviation (σΨb) gave good descriptions of germination time courses. For all species, incubation under fluctuating temperatures shifted Ψb(50) values downwards without modifying their distribution substantially. This accounted for the greater tolerance of germination to reduced Ψo under fluctuating temperatures. To confirm that these effects were mediated by temperature fluctuations per se, the behaviour of C. acanthoides and C. cardunculus incubated at the minimum, the mean and the maximum temperature of the fluctuation cycle was also analysed. Constant maximum and minimum temperatures of the cycle did not stimulate germination, nor did they shift Ψb(50) towards more negative values. The hydrotime model provides a physiologically based quantitative description for germination promotion due to fluctuating temperature.