Tillering dynamics of marandu palisadegrass submitted to two cutting heights and three cutting intervals

The study was conducted to evaluate the dynamics of the tillering process in marandu palisadegrass submitted to two cutting heights (15 and 30 cm), and three cutting intervals (leaf appearance intervals of three, four and five leaves per tiller). A complete randomized block design, with three replications and a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement was used. Evaluations consited of monthly measurements of tiller appearance and death in two tussocks per plot, with new tillers sorted into basal and aerial tillers. Cutting at 15 cm resulted in higher tiller appearance, 1.46 tiller/100 tiller. day, and death rates, 0.368 tiller/100 tiller. day. The five-leaf cutting interval resulted in the lowest tiller appearance rate when associated with the 30 cm cutting height, 0.97 tiller/100 tiller. day. Swards cut at 15 cm presented smaller variations in tiller population, regardless of the cutting frequency used. The dynamics of basal, aerial and total tillering responded differently to cutting frequency and intensity, consequence of the physiological state of plants and prevailing environmental conditions during the experiment.