Project Number: 6602-22000-037-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Oct 01, 2005
End Date: Aug 31, 2010

Objective:
Develop weed management systems for conventional peanut, organic peanut, cotton, and cucurbit crops with emphasis on reducing (or eliminating) herbicide use, altering cultural practices to reduce weed losses, and minimizing weed propagation. Develop a greater understanding of the biology of tropical spiderwort and apply that knowledge to improve weed management efficiency and maximize crop growth and yield. Develop alternative methods of weed management in cucurbit and solanaceous vegetable crops without methyl bromide fumigation by evaluating herbicides, application technology, cover crops, living mulches, solarization, and fallow tillage for pre-plant weed control.

Approach:
The commodities studied are peanut, cotton, and several vegetable crops, which are commonly grown in rotation in the southeastern coastal plain. The majority of the research will be conducted in the field; on research farms at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station and private farms which have specific weed infestations of interest. Greenhouse facilities will be fully utilized for evaluating weed seed survivability from various soil seedbanks. Growth chambers and thermal gradient germination tables will be used to evaluate base temperatures for weed seed germination, particularly tropical spiderwort. Data to be collected in these studies include weed population density, weed emergence patterns, weed growth parameters (plant height, plant width, flower number), weed fecundity, weed biomass (by species), crop growth parameters (crop height, crop canopy width, date of crop canopy closure), crop yield, and environmental factors (soil temperature, soil moisture, rainfall, photosynthetic active radiation within crop canopies). Results will be published in refereed journals, experiment station bulletins, and extension service bulletins.