Switchgrass and Giant Miscanthus Agronomy - Engineering and Science of Biomass Feedstock Production and Provision - page 48

Fig. 3.6 A clump of freshly dug giant miscanthus rhizomes in sorting

the region lack the precipitation necessary for optimal “Illinois” giant miscanthus
production, and adapted lowland and upland switchgrass varieties will probably be
better producers. Finally, while giant miscanthus can survive in many areas north of
this region, cold damage to fi rst-year plantings is a potential problem. Because the
crop is relatively expensive to plant and establish, stand losses are diffi cult to toler-
ate. Upland switchgrass varieties, poplar, and willow may be better choices in these
environments. In the future, the region for producing Miscanthus spp. will probably
be expanded as breeders develop improved germplasm that is capable of high bio-
mass productivity in drier and colder regions.

3.3.2 Propagating and Establishing Giant Miscanthus

Current propagation practices in the USA employ rhizome (underground stems;
Fig. 3.6 ) divisions for direct planting or for plug (containers of small diameter hav-
ing variable depths) production. Tissue culture or micropropagation has been used
to propagate giant miscanthus with some favorable results, but winter survival was
better in rhizome-propagated plants than in tissue culture-produced plantlets and
any growth advantages over rhizome propagation were lost as the plants matured
[ 80 ]. Pyter et al. [ 81 ] found that planting rhizomes of 50-60 g at approximately
10 cm worked well. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign experiences have
shown, however, that mechanical harvesting rarely produces rhizomes of that large
size, and rhizomes of 15-25 g more often occur. The smaller-sized rhizomes can