Thinopyrum intermedium

Cultivation Details

When grown at higher elevations (from 1,000 - 2,700 metres) Thinopyrum intermedium can tolerate a minimum annual rainfall of around 300mm, though rainfall requirements are greater at lower elevations^[1]. The plant can tolerate up to 1,160mm per annum^[2].Plants can withstand considerable cold, with temperatures down to around -25°c, so long as this is not accompanied by heavy rain^{[1, 2]}. Requires a sunny position. It prefers well drained loamy to clayey textured soils; the pubescent form performs best on loamy to sandy to shallow soils^[1]. It can tolerate slightly acidic to mildly saline conditions^[1]. Plants, especially the pubescent form, can tolerate low fertility^[1]. Plants are tolerant of moderate, short-lasting seasonal inundation of the soil in spring^[1]. Plants are very tolerant of fire - top growth is killed but the plant usually resprouts freely from the roots^[1]. Seed production when the plant has ample moisture in the growing season can reach 500 - 600 kilos per hectare in the first year of harvest, though this diminishes in subsequent years unless the plant is fertilized and preferably also divided^{[1, 3]}. During the seed conditioning process, some of the seeds lose their hulls, producing naked hull-less grain. The hull-less seeds tend to lose viability more quickly and are therefore not sold for planting hay and forage crops. This grain is now being sold as Wild Triga, the first commercially available perennial grain^[3]. There are two main forms of this species and at one time the two were treated as distinct (as Agropyron intermedium (Host) P.Beauv., with leaves and flower spikes mainly smooth; and Agropyron trichophorum (Link) K.Richt., which is densely hairy). The two interbreed freely and commercial seed will often produce a mix of the two forms. The hairy form is considered to be slightly more drought tolerant and winter hardy^[1].