2024 journal article

Growth and fecundity of Palmer amaranth escaping glufosinate in cotton with and without grass competition

WEED TECHNOLOGY, 38.

author keywords: Competition; fitness; weed management; Competition; fitness; weed management
Source: Web Of Science
Added: November 25, 2024

Abstract Field experiments were conducted at Clayton and Rocky Mount, North Carolina, during the summer of 2020 to determine the growth and fecundity of Palmer amaranth plants that survived glufosinate with and without grass competition in cotton. Glufosinate (590 g ai ha -1 ) was applied to Palmer amaranth early postemergence (5 cm tall), mid postemergence (7 to 10 cm tall), and late postemergence (>10 cm tall) and at orthogonal combinations of those timings. Non-treated Palmer amaranth was grown in weedy, weed-free in-crop (WFIC) and weed-free fallow (WFNC) conditions for comparisons. Palmer amaranth control decreased as larger plants were treated; no plants survived the sequential glufosinate applications in both experiments. The apical and circumferential growth of Palmer amaranth surviving glufosinate treatments was reduced by more than 44% compared to the WFIC and WFNC Palmer amaranth in both experiments. The biomass of Palmer amaranth plants surviving glufosinate was reduced by more than 62% when compared with the WFIC and WFNC in all experiments. The fecundity of Palmer amaranth surviving glufosinate treatments was reduced by more than 73% compared to WFNC Palmer amaranth in all experiments. Remarkably, the plants that survived glufosinate were fecund as WFIC plants only in the Grass Competition experiment. The results prove that despite decreased vegetative growth of Palmer amaranth surviving glufosinate treatment, plants remain fecund and can be fecund as non-treated plants in cotton. These results suggest that a glufosinate-treated grass weed may not have a significant interspecific competition effect on Palmer amaranth that survives glufosinate. Glufosinate should be applied to 5 to 7 cm Palmer amaranth to cease vegetative and reproductive capacities.