Weeds! Spray It Again Sam?

Published: August 1, 2010

The third wet growing season in a row has left many growers struggling to control weeds, again. A recent Vegetable Crops Hotline newsletter article (Purdue Univ.) addressed this issue. Unfortunately they couldn't offer much advise other than spray them again with glyphosate, cultivate or mow them off.

Preemergent and burndown herbicides can be mixed for early season application and extended weed control. Paraquat & Command in photo

If glyphosate is not controlling weeds like you expect, note the weed control tips in the irrigation water quality article. Hard water can reduce the effectiveness of glyphosate.

FOR NEXT YEAR, some growers may want to try including a herbicide that provides some residual control against germinating weeds with a burndown (glyphosate or gramaxone) to the row middles. Three products to consider obtaining are:

• Command - Fairly broadly labeled, peppers (but not tomatoes), Cucurbits, green beans & Cole crops.
• Dual Magnum II - Tomatoes (but not peppers), green beans, and sweet corn.
• Sandea (Permit) - As both a pre and post emergent herbicide, it has a lot of flexibility and is labeled. For peppers, tomatoes, Cucurbits and green beans. For some crops it can be sprayed over the top. And for the rest some drift, from directed spray to the row middle, causes minimal damage.
• Want to explore others? Look into Curbit & Prowl.