Cultlvation of narrow-leaved fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) together with maral root (Rhaponticum carthamoides) (Willd) Jlin

The authors investigated the ability of narrow-leaved fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium or Ivan-chai) to grow together with maral root (Rhaponticum Carthamoides) (Willd.) Iljin. in the Northern part of the non-chernozem soil zone of Russia. Both plants were found to start grow immediately after melting of snow cover. The phenological flowering period of the maral root occurs earlier than that of the narrow-leaved fireweed. The experiment has revealed that in a mixture of grasses, narrow-leaved firewood is being suppressed. In the third year of life there is a thinning of the stalk of Ivan chai due to a drop in the shoot-producing capacity of its roots. During the period of the experiment the productivity of the grass mixture was lower, than in control version by 5 t/ha. In the control version, the metabolic energy and raw protein collection were 11.2 GJ/ha and 179.3 kg/ha higher than in the grass mixture. The maral root in the third year of growth develops a strong root system and a leaf rosette, which results the unfavorable conditions for the narrow-leaved fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) and it becomes obvious that it is displaced by the maral root from the cenosis composition.