Annals of Applied Biology ISSN 0003-4746

R E S E A R C H A RT I C L E

Seed germination of the weed Rumex obtusifolius after

on-farm conventional, biodynamic and vermicomposting of
cattle manure
J.G. Zaller1,2
1 Faculty of Agriculture, Institute of Organic Agriculture, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
2 Present address: Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research, Institute of Zoology, University of Applied Life Sciences Vienna,
Vienna, Austria

Keywords
Broad-leaved dock; composting methods;
farm composting; farmyard manure;
vermicompost; weed seed viability;
windrow composting.
Correspondence
J.G. Zaller, Department of Integrative Biology
and Biodiversity Research, Institute of
Zoology, University of Applied Life Sciences
Vienna, Gregor Mendel Strasse 33, A-1180
Vienna, Austria.
Email: johann.zaller@boku.ac.at
Received: 19 February 2007;
revised version accepted: 6 June 2007.
doi:10.1111/j.1744-7348.2007.00172.x
Abstract
This study investigated whether composting methods differ in their impact on
seed germination of Rumex obtusifolius (broad-leaved dock). Weed seeds were
buried in windrows of cattle farmyard manure, removed at monthly intervals
and germinated during the course of 7 months. Composting methods differed
in the maximum temperatures reached (63
C for conventional and biody-
namic composting and 35
C for vermicomposting), the addition of 1000 m22
earthworms (Eisenia fetida) for vermicomposting and the inoculation of biody-
namic preparations for biodynamic composting. After 1 month in windrows,
germination rate of Rumex seeds was significantly higher in vermicompost
(48%) than in conventional (28%) or biodynamic compost (18%). After
2 months in windrows, 26% of the seeds germinated in vermicomposting
windrows, while those inserted in conventional and biodynamic windrows
showed a negligible germination (0% and 2%, respectively). After 3 and
4 months, only seeds under vermicomposting germinated (22% and 3%,
respectively). No germination was determined when seeds were inserted for
longer than 4 months in any of the treatments. Seeds stored at room tempera-
ture germinated at 89% over the course of the experiment. Results suggest
that the maximum temperature reached in windrows is not the single main
factor reducing weed seed germination during composting.

manure has gained increased acceptance especially in

Introduction
Many weed seeds retain their viability after digestion by
animals (Blackshaw & Rode, 1991); consequently, the
land application of farmyard manure containing weed
seeds may increase weed populations on farmland. It has
been shown that on average, 75 100 weed seeds can be
present per ton manure (Mt. Pleasant & Schlather,
1994), adding 225 seeds m22 to the soil seed bank at
a typical annual application rate of 30 tons ha21. Com-
posting is considered to be an effective measure to kill
weed seeds contained in manure mainly because of the
high temperatures reached in the composting process
(Rynk, 1992). Additionally, composting of farmyard
sustainable agriculture because of its beneficial effects on
soil fertility and humus retention (Zaller & Köpke,
2004). The most widely used composting method on
farms is conventional composting where manure is
deposited in windrows and allowed to pass a phase with
increased temperatures for several days in order to
sanitise and stabilise the material (Rynk, 1992). Bio-
dynamic composting is a special form of composting
where manure is additionally inoculated with pulverised
and/or liquid compost preparations aiming to facilitate
the decomposition of the material (Koepf et al., 1980).
Vermicomposting reaches the stabilisation of organic mate-
rial by interactions between high earthworm densities

Ann Appl Biol 151 (2007) 245–249 ª 2007 The Author 245
Journal compilation ª 2007 Association of Applied Biologists
Rumex germination after composting
and microorganisms (Domı́nguez, 2004). While con-
ventional and biodynamic composting usually reach
temperatures around 60
C, temperatures in vermi-
composting should not exceed 35
C to avoid detrimental
effects on earthworms (Edwards, 1998). To the best of
knowledge, nothing is known whether these three com-
posting methods differ in their impact on weed seed
germination.
In the current study, the weed Rumex obtusifolius
(broad-leaved dock) was used as a model species. It is an
agronomically important perennial weed that is highly
competitive against other perennial species (Zaller,
2004a) and can build monospecies stands of hundreds of
square-metres in grasslands starting from gaps in vegeta-
tion (Zaller, 2006b), thereby decreasing pasture yields
and fodder quality (Zaller, 2004b). Seeds of R. obtusifolius
usually show an annual dormancy cycle, with lowest
dormancy in winter and spring and most dormancy in
summer (Van Assche & Vanlerberghe, 1989); germi-
nation requires fluctuating temperatures and light
(Thompson & Grime, 1983). Seeds remain viable after
burial in the soil for 39 years (Toole & Brown, 1946);
on-farm composting has been shown to reduce the ger-
mination rates of R. obtusifolius within several weeks
(Pötsch & Krautzer, 2002).
The main objective of the current study was to assess
whether the three different composting methods, conven-
tional, biodynamic and vermicomposting, differ in their
influence on Rumex seed germination. It is hypothesised
that composting methods that reach temperatures con-
sidered lethal for most weed species (Thompson et al.,
1997) are more effective in reducing Rumex germination
than vermicomposting.
Materials and methods
The experiment was conducted in 2003/2004 at the
organic research farm of the University of Bonn, Germany
(65 m a.s.l.; 50
48#N, 7
17#E; soil type: fluvisol). Long-
term mean annual air temperature at this location is
9.5
C and mean annual precipitation is about 770 mm.
The year 2003 was exceptionally warm (mean annual
air temperature: 10.2
C) and dry (annual precipitation:
708 mm).
Three composting treatments were established in the
field in June 2003: conventional composting, biodynamic
composting and vermicomposting (n = 2 windrows per
treatment). All three treatments were set up in a ran-
domised design with farmyard cattle manure where wheat
(Triticum aestivum L.) and rye (Secale cereale L.) straw had
been used for bedding (average nutrient concentrations
of manure: 394 ± 8 g organic C kg21, 22 ± 1 g total
N kg21, 216 ± 2 g available K kg21 and 46 ± 4 g available
246
J.G. Zaller
P kg21). Manure was homogenised and deposited into
windrows using a manure spreader (windrow dimen-
sions: 2 m width, 4 m length, 1.5 m height for composting
and 0.5 m height for vermicomposting; distance between
windrows is 1.5 m). Windrows for biodynamic treatments
were additionally inoculated with powdery biodynamic
preparations by puncturing five 50-cm-deep holes into the
windrow using a rod and pouring each of five biodynamic
preparations (flowers of yarrow, chamomile, dandelion,
stinging nettle shoots, ground oak bark and valerian
extract; preparations were obtained from the Institut für
Biologisch-Dynamische Forschung, Darmstadt, Germany)
in a separate hole (Koepf et al., 1980). The valerian prepa-
ration is liquid and was stirred into 8-L tap water before
application on top of the windrow. We also bored similar
holes in the windrows used for conventional composting
and vermicomposting and poured 8 L of tap water onto
these windrows to match treatments without biodynamic
preparations. In total, 9–10 g biodynamic preparation was
added to about 1.5 tons manure. Windrows used for ver-
micomposting were inoculated with earthworms Eisenia
fetida Sav. at a density of 1000 m22; to prevent earth-
worms from escaping, a fine plastic mesh fence was
installed around these windrows. All treatments received
about 10 L of tap water per week during the first
4 months of the experiment to keep material moist. To
conserve the moisture content of the treatments, all wind-
rows were covered with a 20-cm-thick layer of wheat and
rye straw after inserting the weed bags. Windrow temper-
atures were monitored using one thermocouple inserted in
the centre of each windrow (50 cm depth) and radio-
transmission to a data logger (ELV Elektronik AG, Leer,
Germany).
In order to test the influence of composting methods on
Rumex germination, we prepared bags (20  70 mm)
made of polypropylene garden fleece (about 0.5 mm
thick) and filled each bag with 30 R. obtusifolius seeds
and buried them 50 cm deep in the central area of the
windrows immediately after setting up the windrows.
Fleece bags were fine enough to retain the seeds while
allowing temperature and moisture to reach seeds
therein. To test whether exposure time in the windrows
has an influence on the germination, six seed bags were
removed from the windrows in monthly intervals over
a period of 7 months (i.e. total 168 bags: four treatments
including control  seven dates  six replicates). To
facilitate seed bag recovery from the windrows, the six
bags of each sampling date were tied together with
a cord that ran to the outer surface of the windrow. Of
the seed bags, 42 were used as control samples and
stored at room temperature. For germination, bags were
removed from the windrows, seeds removed from the
bags and placed on moistened filter paper in Petri dishes.
Ann Appl Biol 151 (2007) 245–249 ª 2007 The Author
Journal compilation ª 2007 Association of Applied Biologists
J.G. Zaller Rumex germination after composting

Germination was monitored daily for 40 days in a con-
trolled environment chamber (temperature 22
C, rela-
tive humidity 60% and 9 h light regimen). Germination
rate was expressed as the cumulated number of seeds
germinating during 40 days relative to total number of
seeds tested for germination (i.e. 180 seeds per treat-
ment, replicate and sampling date).
Relative germination rates between the two composting
and the vermicomposting treatments were analysed by
pooling the six seed bags per date using a one-way analysis
of variance in SPSS (version 12.0.1 for Windows; SPSS
Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Values given throughout the
text are means ± 1 SE.
Results
Mean daily compost temperatures showed a rapid rise
during the initial composting phase up to maximum tem-
peratures of 63
C for the conventional and biodynamic
composting but only up to 35
C for vermicomposting
(Fig. 1A).
After 1 month, Rumex seed germination was signifi-
cantly different (P = 0.003) between treatments, with
germination rates of 47.8 ± 7.6% in vermicompost,
27.8 ± 3.3% in conventional and 18.3 ± 2.4% in bio-
dynamic compost (Fig. 1B). After 2 months of exposure
(A)
Compost temperature (°C)
in composting treatments, germination rates were signifi-
cantly different (P = 0.046) between vermicomposting
(26.1 ± 13.9%) and conventional and biodynamic com-
post (0% and 1.7 ± 0.8%, respectively; Fig. 1B). Also
after 3 months in windrows, seeds under vermicompost-
ing had significantly higher (P = 0.035) germination rates
(22.2 ± 9.8%) than those under conventional and bio-
dynamic composting (Fig. 1B). After 4 months of inser-
tion in windrows, germination was similar between
treatments (P = 0.391), with no germination for conven-
tional and biodynamic composting and very little germi-
nation (2.8 ± 1.8%) also for seeds in vermicomposting
windrows (Fig. 1B). No germination could be detected for
seeds exposed longer than 4 months in any of the wind-
rows. Germination rates in controls showed little varia-
tion over the course of the experiment and remained on
average at 89.3 ± 2.0% (Fig. 1B).
Discussion
Our results showed that the maximum temperatures
of about 60
C over 2–3 days reached during the initial
composting phase of the conventional and biodynamic
composting were not lethal to all R. obtusifolius seeds;
however, it reduced germination rates to about 30%.
Insertion of seeds in vermicomposting windrows for
1 month reduced Rumex germination to about 50%
although only a maximum temperature of 35
C was

70 reached. This suggests that higher temperature is not the

60 only factor influencing germination inhibition, confirm-
50 vermicomposting
conventional composting
ing findings for other weed species (Eghball & Lesoing,
40 biodynamic composting 2000; Larney & Blackshaw, 2003). Overall, the interac-
30 tion between high temperatures and duration of heating
20 and its effects on weed seed germination during com-
10 posting is unclear. Generally, lethal temperatures for
0 germination inhibition have been shown to be species
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
dependent where certain weed species being killed in
Duration of experiment (months)
the initial 7 days of composting at lethal temperatures of
(B) 39
C, while for other species, temperatures of >60
C
were required (Larney & Blackshaw, 2003). A laboratory
Relative germination (%)

100

80
study with R. obtusifolius seeds by Thompson et al. (1997)
showed that the maximum temperature required to pre-
60 conventional composting
biodynamic composting vent germination was of greater importance than the
40 control/no composting duration of heating with reductions in the Rumex germi-
vermicomposting
nation by over 90% at a temperature of 65
C over
20
10 min. Field studies have shown that seeds of different
0 anatomy and dormancy were killed when buried in
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
a composting pile and exposed to an average tempera-
Months seeds were inserted in compost
ture of 66
C for 1 h (Shiralipour & McConnell, 1991).
For the interpretation of the current results, this could
Figure 1 Mean daily temperatures in windrows (50 cm depth) of stud-
ied composting methods (A) and relative germination (B) of Rumex obtu- indicate that temperature reached in our conventional
sifolius seeds buried in those windrows (50 cm depth) over the course of and biodynamic composting might have been a few de-
the experiment. Means ± SE, n = 2. Small error bars are not depicted. grees below the lethal temperatures for this species.

Ann Appl Biol 151 (2007) 245–249 ª 2007 The Author 247
Journal compilation ª 2007 Association of Applied Biologists
Rumex germination after composting
Moreover, the dormancy cycle for R. obtusifolius has
been shown to be mainly based on the response of the
seeds to a sudden shift to higher temperatures such as
found in the spring (Van Assche & Vanlerberghe, 1989),
where the rate of temperature increase was essential for
induction of germination and seeds remained dormant
after a slow warming (Van Assche & Van Nerum, 1997).
In the current study, we chose not to turn the windrows
in order to not disturb the decomposition process and to
make conventional and biodynamic composting better
comparable with vermicomposting where earthworms
execute the turning. Also, on-farm composting often occurs
without turning to avoid additional labour or because ade-
quate machinery is lacking. Certainly, turning would lead
to stronger temperature oscillations (de Bertoldi et al.,
1983) and perhaps lethal temperatures would have been
reached more often and might have resulted in a faster
and more readily killing of the inserted weed seeds.
It was interesting to see that 4 months of vermicompost-
ing was sufficient to kill almost all Rumex seeds. No other
studies on effects of vermicomposting on seed germina-
tion are available; however, studies on conventional
composting have shown that only a few weed seeds
remained viable after 4 months when average tem-
perature of compost heat reached between 28 and 39
C
(Tereshchuk & Lazauskas, 2002). This strongly indicates
that other factors than temperature (e.g. high concentra-
tion of ammonia or pathogen infestations; Rynk, 1992)
may play an important role in decreasing weed germina-
tion during composting. Also, water-soluble organic
phytotoxins such as short chain fatty acids (e.g. acetic
acid) during composting have been shown to delay
and decrease germination of several weed species
(Kirchmann & Widen, 1994; Ozores-Hampton et al.,
1999). Eghball & Lesoing (2000) also suggest that a high
moisture content for most of the composting period can
be responsible for germination reduction of weed seeds
even though the critical temperature is not achieved
possibly because of compost phytotoxins. Other ex-
planations might be that warm temperatures and a con-
tinuously moist condition may interact to relieve
dormancy and promote fatal germination or that con-
ditions in the windrows increase seed death through an
accelerated ageing process caused by abiotic conditions
in interaction with microorganisms and/or earthworms.
Little is known about the effects of vermicomposting on
weed seed germination; however, it is likely that similar
to thermophilic composts (Stindt & Weltzien, 1988) also
for vermicompost, the presence of antagonistic micro-
organisms or acids could cause germination reduction.
This is also a suggested mechanism for the suppression of
late blight disease when vermicompost extracts were
applied as foliar sprays (Zaller, 2006a).
248
J.G. Zaller
Our study demonstrated that a complete destruction of
Rumex seeds within 4 months seems possible for the
three composting methods tested even when temper-
atures above 60
C are not reached. If a faster destruction
of Rumex seeds is required also for vermicomposting,
a pretreatment of the organic material for instance
through conventional composting seems advisable. The
lack of viable weed seeds makes compost an attractive
soil amendment, especially in organic farming where
weed control with herbicides is not an option (Larney &
Blackshaw, 2003; Zaller & Köpke, 2004).
Acknowledgements
The author is very grateful to Henning Riebeling and
Johannes Siebigteroth for setting up the windrows and
monitoring compost temperatures and to Harriet Leese,
Britta Staffel and Alexandra van der Flierdt for their excel-
lent assistance in the laboratory and field.
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