The allelopathic influence of sweet potato cultivar ‘Regal’ on purple nutsedge was compared to the influence on yellow nutsedge under controlled conditions. Purple nutsedge shoot dry weight, total shoot length and tuber numbers were significantly lower than the controls (47, 36, and 19% inhibition, respectively). The influence on the same parameters for yellow nutsedge (35, 21, and 43% inhibition, respectively) were not significantly different from purple nutsedge. Sweet potato shoot dry weight was inhibited by purple and yellow nutsedge by 42% and 45%, respectively. The major allelopathic substance from ‘Regal’ root periderm tissue was isolated and tested in vitro on the two sedges. The I50's for shoot growth, root number, and root length were 118, 62, and 44 μg/ml, respectively, for yellow nutsedge. The I50's for root number and root length were 91 and 85 μg/ml, respectively, for purple nutsedge and the I50 for shoot growth could not be calculated.
