Selection of Perennial Ryegrass Spaced Plants in Sward Conditions

We evaluated growth, winter damage and rust susceptibility of diploid and tetraploid perennial ryegrass genotypes that were cloned and planted as spaced plants in three ‘environments’: on bare soil, in a red fescue sward and in a white clover sward. Scores were most repeatable on bare soil. Over all, correlation was higher between the scores from plants on bare soil and in red fescue than between the scores on bare soil and in white clover. Some accessions showed different growth reactions in one of the three swards.