A soil bioassay experiment was conducted in Blacksburg, VA, to determine the effect of isoxaben application timings and rates on duration of weed control. Flats containing soil were imbedded into the field. Isoxaben was applied in the spring, fall, and spring followed by fall (double application) at 0.56, 0.84, and 1.12 kg ai/ha. Flats were moved to a greenhouse at 0, 1, 3, 6, and 9 months after treatment (MAT) and seeded with yellow rocket, buckhorn plantain, and spotted spurge for the bioassays. Weed counts from treated flats were compared to those in untreated flats to determine percent control. Fall and spring followed by fall applications provided approximately 20% greater control of yellow rocket 3 MAT and 30% greater control 6 MAT, compared to a single spring application of isoxaben. Isoxaben at all rates controlled yellow rocket > 70% at 6 mo after fall application. At 3 MAT, fall and spring plus fall-applied isoxaben provided about 15 and 20% greater buckhorn plantain control, respectively, compared to spring application. The two highest rates of isoxaben controlled buckhorn plantain > 70% at 3 mo after fall application, but provided poor control at 6 MAT. Control of spotted spurge was similar among the three application timings for isoxaben and was unacceptable at most evaluation dates. Overall, isoxaben applied at 1.12 kg/ha provided better control of all three weed species for a longer time than the reference herbicide, oxadiazon, applied at 3.36 kg/ha.

Effectiveness of rotary hoeing with cultivation and comparison of an in-row cultivator with a standard row-crop cultivator were determined in dry edible bean. The effectiveness of in-row cultivation conducted at various timings and frequencies was examined. The in-row cultivator was more effective in reducing weed populations than the standard cultivator, although at least two mechanical weeding operations were needed to reduce weed populations to levels of the herbicide check (EPTC [S-ethyl dipropyl carbamothioate] plus ethalfluralin). When the in-row cultivation was delayed until the second trifoliolate stage or later, weed populations were greater than those in the herbicide check. In situations with high weed populations, rotary hoeing prior to cultivation was required to reduce weed populations to levels similar to the herbicide check. An in-row cultivator has potential to improve mechanical weed control options in a crop such as dry edible bean. The types of adjustments made in combination with soil textures, soil moisture, and operator experience affect overall weed control. Thus, it is expected that the level of weed control will vary from year to year and even field to field for the same operator.

The effect of bromoxynil on large crabgrass control by clethodim, sethoxydim, fluazifop-P, fluazifop-P plus fenoxaprop-P, and quizalofop-P was evaluated in 1996 and 1997 in bromoxynil-tolerant cotton and in fallow areas. Bromoxynil at 560 g ai/ha reduced large crabgrass control 4 weeks after treatment (WAT) when mixed with labeled rates of fluazifop-P, fluazifop-P plus fenoxaprop-P, or quizalofop-P. Control 9 WAT was reduced when bromoxynil was mixed with any of the graminicides. Antagonism with the mixtures was greatest with quizalofop-P, intermediate with fluazifop-P plus fenoxaprop-P and fluazifop-P, and least with clethodim and sethoxydim. Increasing the graminicide rate 50% in mixtures with bromoxynil alleviated antagonism only for clethodim. No antagonism was noted 9 WAT when bromoxynil was applied 3 d before or 3 d after application of clethodim or sethoxydim or when bromoxynil was applied 3 d after fluazifop-P plus fenoxaprop-P. Antagonism was observed when bromoxynil was applied 3 d before fluazifop-P plus fenoxaprop-P or when applied 3 d before or 3 d after fluazifop-P and quizalofop-P. Regardless of bromoxynil application, greatest yields were obtained from cotton treated with clethodim or sethoxydim. Bromoxynil applied 3 d before or 3 d after clethodim, sethoxydim, or fluazifop-P plus fenoxaprop-P did not reduce yield. Yield was reduced when bromoxynil was applied 3 d before or 3 d after application of fluazifop-P or quizalofop-P and when bromoxynil was mixed with any graminicide.

The name Polygonum is a very ancient derivative, composed of the two Greek words, polys, many, and gony, knee or joint, alluding to the numerous and conspicuous nodes in the stems of many species. The Greek physician Heraclides Tarentina (third and second centuries BC) prescribed prostrate knotweed, P. aviculare L., as a remedy against bleeding from the ear. Dioscorides, a Greek botanist, was the first to characterize Polygonum as having “numerous slender branches, creeping on the ground like grass, with fruit at each leaf.” Subsequently, other Greek physicians, poets, and botanists applied the name to the knotweed/smartweed group, and in 1753, Linneaus adopted it for the genus. The species name for pale smartweed, lapathifolium, is from lapathi, meaning sorrel-like or dock-like (Gledhill 1985; Hyam and Pankhurst 1995; Small 1895).