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- Author or Editor: John R. Teasdale x
Abstract
Several herbicides which usually are toxic to muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) did not reduce melon yield when applied to soil between crop rows mulched with black polyethylene. These herbicides include metolachlor, alachlor, oryzalin, linuron, acifluorfen, metribuzin, and paraquat. However, oxyfluorfen and atrazine cause severe injury and reduced yield in some instances. Herbicide injury appeared to result from movement of herbicide to plants by rainfall runoff or by volatilization rather than by root uptake from the treated area. Chemical names used: 5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-2-nitrobenzoic acid (acifluorfen); 2-chloro-N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-N-methoxymethyl)acetamide (alachlor); N’-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-N-methoxy-N-methylurea (linuron); 2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl)acetamide (metolachlor); 4-(dipropylamino)-3,5-dinitrobenzenesulfonamide (oryzalin); 1,1′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium salts (paraquat); (4-amino-6-[1,1-dimethylethyl]-3-[methylthio]-1,2,4- -triazin-5 [4H]-one) (metribuzin); 2-chloro-1-(3-ethoxy-4-nitrophenoxy)-4-(trifluoromethyl)benzene (oxyfluorfen); 6-chloro-N-ethyl-N’-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine (atrazine).
Abstract
The efficacy and economics of several weed control systems for fresh market tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. ‘Pik Red’) production were compared in a 3-year field experiment. Nearly perfect weed control for 7 weeks after transplanting was required to achieve maximum yields. The increased profits associated with maximum yields more than compensated for the additional costs required to achieve optimal weed control. Under Maryland conditions, black polyethylene mulch in combination with a pretransplant incorporated application of napropamide plus pebulate and a posttransplant directed application of paraquat plus metribuzin provided the most consistent weed control and highest profit. Other profitable treatments included black polyethylene mulch in combination with other posttransplant herbicides, or with cultivation and handweeding. Treatments without black polyethylene, including a pretransplant incorporated application of napropamide plus pebulate followed by a postransplant application of metribuzin and/or cultivation, provided good weed control but did not result in yields or profits as high as those treatments with black polyethylene in 2 out of 3 years.
Stand, plant growth, and yield were determined on `Matador' and `Carlos' snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) that were planted as a summer crop in a 3-year study using conventional tillage (CT) and no-till hairy vetch (Vicia villosa L. Roth) mulch (HV) systems. The CT plots received (kg·ha–1) 67 N as ammonium nitrate at preplanting and both CT and HV plots received (kg·ha–1) 17N–34P–17K with the planter. Stand differences between CT and HV were not significant. Average yields in CT and HV over a 3-year period were 13.3 and 19.8 t·ha–1, respectively. Average plant dry mass 2 days before harvest was not significantly different between CT and HV. Leaf area per plant 2 days before harvest was 1992 and 3092 cm2 in CT and HV, respectively. Higher yield in the HV mulch system, as compared to CT, can be attributed to larger leaf area per plant, higher soil organic matter and water-holding capacity, and less soil compaction in the HV plots.
Nitrogen requirements by fresh-market field tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) were determined on plants grown in a hairy vetch mulch (HVM) or in black polyethylene mulch (BPM). Nitrogen treatments were 0, 56, 112, and 168 kg/ha delivered weekly through the trickle system. Yields in BPM increased significantly with higher applications of nitrogen from 54 to 91 tons/ha and chlorophyll content of fully expanded leaves increased from 7.8 to 11.3 OD664 per 100 mg fresh weight. In contrast, neither yield nor chlorophyll content of leaves increased significantly by adding nitrogen. The 0 nitrogen treatment in HVM yielded 89 ton/ha and chlorophyll content was 13.5 OD664 making it equivalent to those in BPM that had received 168 kg nitrogen/ha. The results suggest that hairy vetch can provide all the nitrogen required by the subsequent tomato crop and produces high yields and vigorous plants.
Hairy vetch, subterranean clover, polyethylene black mulch (PBM), and Horto paper were evaluated in field-grown fresh market production of tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill), cv `Sunny'. Plant mulches were grown in beds in the fall, mowed immediately before planting, and the tomato seedlings were planted without tillage in a low input system. Yields (t.ha-1) for hairy vetch, subterranean clover, PBM, Horto paper, and no mulch were 72.1, 46.6, 59.9, 54.0, and 29.8, respectively. Although the tomato plants grown under plant mulches received 50% of the recommended fertilizer application, they produced more vigorous plants than those in other treatments. Plant mulches were effective in controlling growth of weeds and infestation by Colorado potato beetle.
Abstract
Five field experiments compared weed control systems for snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production in 25-cm rows including herbicides, but no cultivation, to systems for conventional 91-cm rows including both herbicides and cultivation. Herbicide combinations of EPTC + dinoseb each at 3.4 kg/ha, EPTC at 3.4 kg/ha + bentazon at 0.8 kg/ha, and trifluralin at 0.6 kg/ha + bentazon at 0.8 kg/ha provided excellent control of annual weeds and yellow nutsedge in most experiments. With the most effective herbicide treatments, weed control was similar in 25-cm and 91-cm rows. However, when herbicide treatments failed to control all weed species, weed control in 91-cm rows was better than that in 25-cm rows, because 91-cm rows were cultivated. Snap beans in 25-cm rows yielded an average of 25% higher than snap beans in 91-cm rows (plant density was equivalent at both row spacings). As weed control improved, the magnitude of the yield difference between 25-cm and 91-cm row spacings increased.
Temperature and root length at selected locations within a raised bed under black polyethylene, hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) residue, or bare soil were measured and correlated with tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) growth. Early in the season, before the tomato leaf canopy closed, soil temperature was influenced more by vertical depth in the bed than by horizontal position across the bed. Maximum soil temperatures under black polyethylene averaged 5.7 and 3.4C greater than those under hairy vetch at 5 and 15 cm deep, respectively. More hours at optimum temperatures for root growth (20 to 30C) during the first 4 weeks of the season probably accounted for greater early root and shoot growth and greater early yield of tomatoes grown with black polyethylene than hairy vetch residue or bare soil. After canopy closure, soil temperatures under tomato foliage within the row were reduced by an average of 5.2 and 2.2C at 5 and 15 cm deep, respectively, compared to those on the outer edge of the beds. Most tomato roots were in areas of the bed covered by the tomato canopy where temperatures in all treatments remained in the optimum 20 to 30C range almost continuously. Soil temperature, therefore, did not explain why tomato plants in the hairy vetch treatment had equal or higher total yields than the black polyethylene or unmulched treatments.
Growth analysis was used to document growth responses of staked, fresh-market tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) to black polyethylene or hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) mulches. Leaf area and dry mass of vegetation and fruit were measured weekly during two growing seasons. Growth was better early in the season but worse later in the season for plants grown with black polyethylene than with hairy vetch mulch. Unit leaf rate (rate of growth per unit leaf area) of fruit was higher with black polyethylene than with hairy vetch, whereas the reverse was true of vegetation. This relationship led to a higher leaf area ratio and leaf area duration of plants grown with hairy vetch than with black polyethylene. Consequently, tomatoes grown with black polyethylene produced higher early yield because of increased partitioning to fruit. However, tomatoes grown with hairy vetch eventually outgrew and outyielded those grown with black polyethylene because of increased partitioning to leaf area.
Temperature and root length at selected locations within a raised bed under black polyethylene (BP), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) residue (HV), or bare soil (BS) were measured and correlated with tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) growth. Early in the season, before the tomato leaf canopy closed, soil temperature was influenced more by vertical depth in the bed than by horizontal location across the bed. Maximum soil temperatures under BP averaged 5.7 and 3.4C greater than those under HV at 5- and 15-cm depths, respectively. More hours at temperatures >20C during the first 4 weeks probably accounted for greater early root and shoot growth and greater early yield of tomatoes grown in BP rater than in HV or BS. After canopy closure, soil temperatures under tomato foliage were reduced compared to those on the outer edge of the beds. Most tomato roots were in areas of the bed covered by the tomato canopy where temperatures in all treatments remained in the optimum 20 to 30C range almost continuously. Soil temperature, therefore, did not explain why total yield was higher in the HV than the BP or BS treatments.
Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), and rye (Secale cereale L.) and mixtures of rye with hairy vetch and/or crimson clover were compared for no-tillage production of staked, fresh-market tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) on raised beds. All cover crops were evaluated both with or without a postemergence application of metribuzin for weed control. Biomass of cover crop mixtures were higher than that of the hairy vetch monocrop. Cover crop nitrogen content varied little among legume monocrops and all mixtures but was lower in the rye monocrop. The C:N ratio of legume monocrops and all mixtures was <30 but that of the rye monocrop was >50, suggesting that nitrogen immobilization probably occurred only in the rye monocrop. Marketable fruit yield was similar in the legume monocrops and all mixtures but was lower in the rye monocrop when weeds were controlled by metribuzin. When no herbicide was applied, cover crop mixtures reduced weed emergence and biomass compared to the legume monocrops. Despite weed suppression by cover crop mixtures, tomatoes grown in the mixtures without herbicide yielded lower than the corresponding treatments with herbicide in 2 of 3 years. Chemical name used: [4-amino-6-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-3-(methylthio)-1,2,4-triazin-5(4H)-one](metribuzin).