Stellaria media (L.) Vill. (common chickweed): A strong or weak competitor in the autumn and early-spring sown crops? | Stellaria media (L.) Vill. (common chickweed)

Due to its capability to produce considerable amounts of seeds in temperate climate conditions, Stellaria media (L.) Vill. colonizes easily any cold and humid environment prior before the fallspring seeded crops can become competitive. Usually, it is a weed occurring in many crops in temperate and boreal climates, where it is often among the earliest spring appearing weeds. S. media is considerably one of the most common weeds in winter and spring cereal stands, a highly competitive weed in peas and winter oilseed rape, one of the prevailing weed species in seedling lucerne, a serious weed in citrus, one of the most frequent weeds in strawberry, and one of the most common weeds present in conventional sugar beet. S. media is a principal weed problem in vegetable cultivation and in turf and gardens in almost all countries in the temperate part of the planet. On the other hand, in comparative trials of weed competitiveness and yield suppression in many crops, S. media had a smaller competitive capacity than Raphanus raphanistrum, Chenopodium album, Galium aparine, Polygonum persicaria, Alopecurus myosuroides, Avena fatua, and numerous others weeds. In field experiments conducted in fall-spring seeded crop plants, as well as established crops, like established lucerne, S. media was recognized as a weak competitor, except in cases at higher densities. The real competitiveness related to the reduction of crop yield generated by S. media relies on many circumstances, including the emergence time of the crop. S. media manifests a strong initial growth and usually generates substantial reduction in yield when it emerges before or simultaneously with the crop plants. It is a greatly adaptable species as well, which implies that its vigorous development and resource capturing will lead to a large number of individuals with a highly competitive capacity.