Herbicide-Treated Mulches Effective Method Of Weed Control COLUMBUS, Ohio Mulches pretreated with her bicides have been found to be an effective method of weed control on ornamental plants grown in nursery or land scape settings. The results of an Ohio State University study to measure the productivity of herbicide-treated mulches on weed control and plant toxic ity have shown that certain organic mulches pretreated with herbicides produced near-perfect weed control and showed minimal phyto toxicity up to 130 days after application. Such results are beneficial to landscape and nursery in dustries since the efficacy of pre-emergent herbicides would be extended, reducing the need for repeated chemi cal applications over the course of a growing season. The research is being funded by the Horticultural Research Institute, the Ohio Research Endowment, the USD A and several nurseries in the Dayton/Springfield area. Hannah Mathers, an Ohio State University nursery and landscape specialist, said the pretreated mulches provided better control than mulches or herbicides applied directly to the soil or plant and lasted What Bends, eventually Breaks! Don’t let this happen to you. Strengthen your orchard and your profits. 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There’s something going on there where the two together gives superior effi cacy over mulches or chemi cals alone.” The researchers studied the performance of seven or ganic mulches (pine nuggets, cypress, Douglas fir, hard wood bark, rice hulls, cocoa bean shells, and Penn Mulch a recycled palletized paper product) treated with two herbicides (Surflan and Flu mioxazin not yet regis tered for ornamentals) on various broad-leaved ever greens, conifers and decidu ous shrubs. Weed control was given a visual rating of zero to 10, with a “10” providing perfect weed control. Plant toxicity was also ranked from zero to 10, with a zero indicating perfect plant health. Herbi cide was applied to a 15 square foot area of a single layer of mulch using the same field application rates re quired in the nursery and landscape industries. Free yourself from the frustration of wooden stakes Based on the results, rice hulls and hardwood bark treated with either Surflan or Flumioxazin provided the best weed control with mini mal toxicity to the plants. “For example, at 45 days the pretreated hardwood had a perfect ‘lo’ in weed control and a ‘2.l’ in phytotoxicity. Anything below a ‘3’ for phy totoxicity is considered com mercially acceptable,” said Mathers. Other pretreated mulches, like pine nuggets, also ap peared to outshine the per formance of stand-alone mulches and herbicides. “A half-rate of Surflan on pine nuggets brought phytotoxi city down lower than even half of what would normally be applied with a chemical by itself,” said Mathers. “Pine nuggets performed well with Surflan providing almost as effective weed control as hardwood bark or rice hulls.” Researchers speculate the herbicides bind to the mulches, creating a slow release carrier that not only improves upon weed control and reduces plant toxicity, but also produces a more en vironmentally sound product by reducing leaching. “Most of the chemical that is applied directly onto plants leaches away because of its Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 26,2002, Grower and Marketer- water solubility,” said Math ers. “So much of it leaches away through pots that you may apply 100 percent of the chemical but you have only about 30 percent of the actual chemical to do anything with. The rest is just lost.” In the landscape the chemical leaches intp the environment as run-off. In nursery pro duction, lost chemicals are the result of improper cali bration and run-off from plastic or gravel, which in creases the need for multiple applications. Mathers and graduate stu dents Luke Case and Nathan Tuttle plan to study exactly where the majority of the her bicide that is applied to the Fast, efficient tree training ■ Straight & strong support for growing trees ■ Establishes your orchard 'quick & painless' ■ Unaffected by climate changes ■ No wood preservatives to leach into soil Staking our reputation to. your success! Get the Best Angle tor your orchard, call today. mSIH 205 Lycoming Mall Road IiIjJJW Pennsdale, PA 17756 BwlP Phone ( 570 > 546-5571 liiiP FAX (570) 546-8509 'We’re in the fruit business” 40 years experience in dwarf tree systems. ■ Can be used with individual trees ortrellisedrows mulch resides, whether it’s in the mulch, within the plant soil or at the bottom of the container. “If we can scientifically show that the chemicals are binding to the mulches, then we have a product that can be applied to plants and we won’t have to worry about any leaching into water sources,” said Mathers. “Also, a product that can give you weed control for a whole season is a big deal to a landscape maintenance com pany. If you can guarantee total weed control to your customers, it makes you look good and that’s good busi ness.” "j 189
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