Triazine-resistant giant foxtail was identified in 1984 near Delta, PA. In field studies conducted from 1985 to 1987, preemergence applications of atrazine with cyanazine or simazine provided poor (≤60%) season-long control of this annual grass in no-tillage corn. Best season-long preemergence control was obtained with metolachlor or microencapsulated formulations of alachlor or EPTC. Postemergence applications of cyanazine or tridiphane + atrazine + crop oil provided poor giant foxtail control. Postdirected applications of paraquat resulted in fair (≥70%) control of giant foxtail through midseason. In greenhouse studies, triazineresistant (R) giant foxtail tolerated preemergence applications of atrazine or simazine at dosages to 9.0 kg ai/ha. Triazine-sensitive (S) giant foxtail was injured by 2.2 kg/ha and higher rates of atrazine and simazine. In laboratory studies, the I50 for inhibition by atrazine of photoinduced electron transport in thylakoids isolated from S and R biotypes was determined to be 0.24 and 205 μM, respectively. The differential sensitivity was paralleled by simazine. However, the limited solubility of simazine prevented determination of an I50 value with thylakoids from the R biotype.

Field experiments were conducted during 1984 and 1985 to determine the influence of 2,4-D and MCPA amine and ester formulations on control of foxtail millet with diclofop. Foxtail millet control increased as the diclofop rate increased from 0.6 to 1.7 kg ai/ha whether diclofop was applied alone or with 2,4-D or MCPA amine and ester formulations; however, foxtail millet control was lower when diclofop was applied with 2,4-D or MCPA amine and ester formulations compared to diclofop applied alone. MCPA ester, MCPA amine, 2,4-D ester, or 2,4-D amine at 0.14 kg ai/ha added to a diclofop spray mixture reduced foxtail millet control 8, 15, 20, and 30% compared to diclofop applied alone, averaged over diclofop rates of 0.6, 0.8, 1.1, 1.4, and 1.7 kg/ha. Adding a petroleum oil to diclofop increased foxtail millet control with diclofop at 0.6 kg/ha but not at 0.8 kg/ha. The petroleum oil additive did not overcome the antagonism of foxtail millet control when diclofop at 0.6 kg/ha was applied with 2,4-D or MCPA amine and ester formulations. The amount of 14C-diclofop absorbed by oats was greater when diclofop was applied with the ester formulations of 2,4-D or MCPA compared to the amine formulations. Either once-refined sunflower oil or sunflower oil methyl ester applied with 14C-diclofop increased the amount of 14C absorbed and translocated in oat plants compared to 14C-diclofop applied alone.

Field experiments were conducted in 1986 and 1987 to evaluate the effect of herbicide incorporation to various depths on common cocklebur control with imazaquin, a tank mix of imazaquin and metribuzin, and a preformulated mixture of chlorimuron and metribuzin in soybeans. Herbicide rates included were two-thirds and the full registered rate. All treatments, except chlorimuron plus metribuzin (50 plus 320 g ai/ha, respectively), controlled more common cocklebur when incorporated to depths of 2.5 to 7.6 cm than when left unincorporated. Also, imazaquin at 90 g ai/ha and the tank mix of imazaquin plus metribuzin at 90 plus 280 g ai/ha, when incorporated, controlled more common cocklebur than higher rates of the same combination when not incorporated. Common cocklebur control was similar with 2.5-, 5.0-, and 7.6-cm soil incorporation depths.

The effect of wheat straw incorporation on imazaquin concentration and biological activity in soil solution was determined as a function of herbicide rate and time of incubation. Etowah silt loam, amended with wheat straw (2 g/kg) or unamended, received imazaquin (0, 31, 62, or 124 μg ai/kg oven-dry soil). Soils incubated at 25 C were subsampled 0, 12, 24, 48, and 96 h after treatment and soil solutions were analyzed for imazaquin, pH, and electrical conductivity. Wheat straw amendment, imazaquin rate, and time of incubation influenced the concentration of imazaquin in the soil solution. Imazaquin concentration in soil solution exhibited gradual linear declines with time. Relative length of sunflower radicles declined with increased imazaquin rate. Regression of relative radicle length on activity of imazaquin anion in soil solution indicated differential response in the presence of wheat straw-amended versus unamended soil.

Postemergence treatments utilizing various combinations of fluazifop-P, paraquat, and 2,4-DB were compared to a preplant-incorporated (PPI) application of benefin followed by a ground-cracking application of alachlor and dinoseb plus naptalam and a postemergence application of 2,4-DB for weed control, peanut yield, and net economic return to land, overhead, and management. The greatest peanut yields (3-yr average of 4510 kg/ha) and net returns (3-yr average of $521/ha) were provided by a postemergence system that utilized one ground-cracking and one postemergence application of paraquat and one postemergence application of fluazifop-P and 2,4-DB. Seven postemergence systems provided equivalent or greater yield and net returns than the PPI and dinoseb plus naptalam system. Fresh weight reductions of Texas panicum, sicklepod, Florida beggarweed, and pitted morningglory from postemergence weed control systems were equivalent to reductions obtained from the PPI and dinoseb plus naptalam system. The addition of paraquat and 2,4-DB to the PPI and dinoseb plus naptalam system improved the 3-yr average peanut yield and net economic return by 510 kg/ha and $136/ha, respectively, compared to the same system without paraquat and 2,4-DB.

Effects of difenzoquat on wild oats grown under controlled environmental conditions were studied. Seedling height and fresh weight were significantly reduced 5 days after postemergence treatment. Dose-dependent increase in cell membrane permeability was detected after a 12-h exposure to the herbicide. Scanning electron micrographs showed normal leaf hairs and cuticular wax but swollen guard cells 10 days after treatment. Ultrastructural changes occurred before the visible symptoms. The primary effect of difenzoquat appears to be the disruption of the tonoplast and plasmalemma. The tonoplast showed greater damage than the plasmalemma. Secondary effects included damage to mitochondria and chloroplasts. Mitochondria were swollen and often ruptured, but the effect did not increase with the duration of exposure. Chloroplasts became spherical in shape, and their contents were also affected. The changes included: accumulation and then disappearance of starch granules, swelling of frets, fusion of granal thylakoids, detachment and then rupture of the outer membrane of the envelope, and clumping of ribosomes. By contrast, natural senescence caused greater injury of the plasmalemma than the tonoplast, a marked increase in size of plastoglobuli, and loss of starch grains without early accumulation.

The availability and persistence of imazaquin, imazethapyr, and clomazone were studied in a Cisne silt loam (1.3% organic matter) and a Drummer silty clay loam (5.8% organic matter). Availability of all three herbicides to bioassay species was greater in the Cisne soil than in the Drummer soil. Corn root growth was more sensitive to imazaquin and imazethapyr than corn shoot growth. Shoot and root growth of wheat was inhbited by similar clomazone concentrations. In field experiments conducted in 1984, 1985, and 1986, all three herbicides were more persistent in the Drummer silty clay loam than in the Cisne silt loam. Clomazone and imazethapyr were detected by liquid or gas chromatographic analysis in the Drummer soil 3 yr following application. Crop injury occurred 5 months after application of imazaquin and clomazone to the Drummer soil. In the Cisne soil, only imazethapyr caused crop injury 5 months after application. Herbicide residues found below 7.5 cm were greater in the Drummer soil than in the Cisne soil.

Corn and giant foxtail response to foliar-applied sethoxydim at 67, 134, and 200 g ai/ha was evaluated in field studies. Sethoxydim applied over the top of corn (60 cm tall) caused greater whorl damage and reduced corn grain yield more than postdirected sethoxydim. Sethoxydim controlled giant foxtail best when used in conjunction with a preemergence application of metolachlor (2.2 kg/ha) and atrazine (1.7 kg/ha).

Crown bud, tiller, and rhizome development was studied in 10 quackgrass biotypes at two stages (three-to four- and seven- to eight-leaf stages) of development to determine if differential development of these structures influenced control with sethoxydim and haloxyfop. There was a differential response among the 10 biotypes to both sethoxydim and haloxyfop at both stages of development. The biotypes differed in the number of crown buds, tillers, and rhizomes that formed at both stages of development. In the three- to four-leaf stage, the biotypes with the greatest number of crown buds were the most difficult to control. These results suggest that in the susceptible stage (three-to four-leaf) the quackgrass biotypes with the least number of crown buds will be the easiest to control; however, by the time all the biotypes reach the seven- to eight-leaf stage even the biotypes with the lowest number of crown buds have enough crown buds that they become difficult to control with either sethoxydim or haloxyfop.

In 1985, when weed densities were low (169 plants/m2 in untreated control), imazaquin applied at 0.07 kg ai/ha early preplant controlled over 90% of all weeds before no-till planting of soybeans. In 1986 and 1987 when weed densities were higher (589 plants/m2 in untreated control), addition of 1.1 kg ai/ha or more of metolachlor to imazaquin (0.07 kg/ha) before soybean planting controlled 95% or more of the grass weeds and 83% or more of the broadleaf weeds. Imazaquin plus metolachlor applied less than 1 day after soybean planting controlled less than 70% of the emerged weeds in 1986 and 1987; common lambsquarters was most tolerant. Early preplant treatments controlled more weeds throughout the growing season than treatments applied after planting. Splitting herbicide treatments among application times generally did not increase weed control compared to single applications. Early preplant applications resulted in higher soybean densities and taller soybeans 30 days after planting in 1986 and 1987 than treatments applied after planting. Soybean yields increased as weed control increased. Weed control and soybean yields were greater with early preplant treatments than paraquat plus alachlor plus metribuzin applied preemergence in 1986 and 1987. No carryover of imazaquin residue was detected through corn bioassay in the field.

The antagonistic effect of bentazon on sethoxydim adsorption and activity was studied in quackgrass. The diffusion of 14C-sethoxydim into and through an isolated tomato fruit cuticle was inhibited in the presence of the sodium salt of bentazon. Bentazon also increased the partitioning of 14C-sethoxydim into CH2Cl2 and water; however, it decreased partitioning into ethyl acetate. Removal of epicuticular wax from quackgrass leaf surfaces did not prevent the antagonism. Addition of sodium acetate or sodium bicarbonate to the sethoxydim spray solution at 10 mM reduced uptake of 14C-sethoxydim by quackgrass similar to the effect of bentazon. Sodium ions in the bentazon formulation appeared responsible for the antagonism by exchanging with the H+ of the sethoxydim hydroxyl group to form a more polar sodium salt of sethoxydim. The addition of Li+, K+, Cs+, Ca++, and Mg++ cations associated with a weak acid also reduced 14C-sethoxydim absorption. Addition of organic acids to the spray solution overcame the antagonism by preventing the formation of sodium salt of sethoxydim. In the field, the addition of a 3000 ppm sodium acetate solution delivering 0.56 kg/ha produced the same antagonism as bentazon on quackgrass control with sethoxydim.

Three approaches to data analysis were compared to describe competitive interactions between wheat and Italian ryegrass. Replacement series were performed using the two species at total densities of 100, 200, and 400 plants/ m2, and separate monoculture experiments for each species at densities from 33 to 800 plants/m2. Approaches to data analysis included: 1) conventional analysis of replacement series experiments, 2) development of synthetic no-interaction responses from monoculture experiments for comparison with results from mixtures, and 3) responses of the reciprocal yield of individual plants to variation in densities of the two species. Wheat was the superior competitor to ryegrass; however, the three approaches varied in ability to quantify this competitive relationship. The conventional replacement series analysis was least sensitive in describing the influences of either density or proportion on the plant association. The synthetic no-interaction approach provided the most detailed analysis of the influence of proportion on the species interaction. The reciprocal yield approach provided the simplest and most sensitive analysis of the joint influences of density and proportion. The latter approach also provided the most quantitative analysis of the influence of density on the species interaction. Plant density and species proportion are important variables for interpreting the process of plant competition.

Degradation of trifluralin in four soils, each represented at four sites, under field conditions was determined quantitatively and described mathematically. A biexponential equation that resulted from integration of first-order and second-order differential rate equations described degradation data better than the first-order kinetic model for 15 of 25 soil-site combinations. Biexponential model regression coefficients indicated extent of degradation and that degradation is rapid at initially high trifluralin concentrations but slows as concentration decreases. The first-order kinetic model initially underestimated but ultimately overestimated degradation of trifluralin, thereby inferring that a first-order half-life is inadequate for predicting trifluralin persistence.

Field experiments were conducted at two locations in Georgia to evaluate wild radish control and soft red winter wheat tolerance of herbicides applied February 1 (one- to five-tiller stage) or March 1 (three- to seven-tiller stage). Bromoxynil controlled wild radish with no wheat grain or forage yield reductions in any experiment. Thiameturon controlled wild radish when applied at rates >0.02 kg/ha on March 1. Metribuzin, dimethylamine salt of 2,4-D, and dimethylamine salt of MCPA provided late-season control of wild radish. February 1 treatments of metribuzin reduced wheat stands at Plains. The difference was attributed to environmental conditions, wheat tiller number at application, and possibly to differences in soil fertility at planting. Metribuzin, thiameturon, dimethylamine salt of dicamba, MCPA, and 2,4-D reduced wheat forage yield at Tifton. Dicamba did not control wild radish and reduced grain yield when applied at a rate of 0.3 kg ai/ha on March 1.