Table 40. Comparison of percent survival of vertical and horizontal plantings 

 of sea oats and bitter panicum. 1 



Planting 



Bitter p 



anicum 



Sea oats 



North Padre 



South Padre 



North Padre 



South Padre 



H 2 



V 3 



H 



V 



H 



V 



H 



V 



Sept. 1972 



6 



4 



.... 



.... 







6 



.... 



.... 



Oct. 



12 







— 



— - 







16 



.... 



.... 



Nov. 



30 



30 



3 







2 



6 







5 



Dec. 



6 



24 







12 







2 



14 



26 



Jan. 1973 



12 



10 



40 



40 



26 



26 



33 4 



43 4 



Feb. 



20 



34 



21 4 



33 4 



20 



60 



17 4 



81 4 



Mar. 



30 



62 



20 



38 



















Apr. 



48 



68 



18 



46 







34 







4 



May 



58 



70 



.... 



.... 







8 



.... 



.... 



Total 



25 5 



34 



17 5 



28 



5 s 



18 



11 s 



27 



1. Nonirrigated only; N = 50 plants. 



2. Horizontal: culms laid horizontally in 6-inch-deep trench and covered with sand. 



3. Vertical: culms planted 8 inches deep, erect. 



4. N = 42 plants. 



5. Mean totals of each pair (horizontal versus vertical) are significantly different (P Q Q1 ). 



When planting areas where drifting sand is not a problem, a combination of mechanical 

 and hand planting can be used successfully. The transplanter is positioned so the packing 

 wheels are off the ground, and an 8-inch-deep furrow is dug with the blade. The crew walks 

 behind the tractor dropping untrimmed transplants horizontally into the furrows, wliich are 

 then closed by heeling. This method was used successfully on two 400-foot-long beach 

 plantings in 1973. The only limitations are that drifting sand should be minimal, and the 

 soil, including the surface, must be moist so that the furrows remain open. 



h. Time-Cost Analysis of Method of Planting. Time-cost analysis in man-hours for the 

 mechanical and hand-planting methods is given in Tables 41 and 42. This information 

 should be considered as a guideline only, since variables such as labor crew experience, 

 planting conditions, and distance to planting site from nursery or harvest locations, affect 

 the planting time. All data for hand planting assume ideal soil conditions. 



i. Density of Planting. Optimum transplant spacing is dependent on the resulting 

 survival. Most plantings for Padre Island were on 2-foot centers, i.e., 2 feet between rows 

 and 2 feet between plants within rows. This seems the best spacing for transplant survival of 

 25 to 50 percent. Survival approaching 100 percent would permit 3-foot-center spacing 

 without reducing sand-trapping efficiency. Since survival tlus high is rare except in protected 

 plantings, e.g., a nursery, a planting on 2-foot centers is recommended. 



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