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The Impacts of Fertilizer and Hexazinone on Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella) Growth Patterns in Lowbush Blueberry Fields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Karen J. Kennedy
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada, B2N 5E3
Nathan S. Boyd*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada, B2N 5E3
Vilis O. Nams
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada, B2N 5E3
A. Randall Olson
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada, B2N 5E3
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Sheep sorrel is an invasive, creeping perennial weed of lowbush blueberry fields that decreases yields and hinders harvest. Much of the basic phenology of sheep sorrel in blueberry fields is unknown and not documented in peer-reviewed journals. Three levels of fertilizer (0, 20, and 40 kg N ha−1) and two levels of hexazinone (0 and 1.92 kg ai ha−1) were applied to three vegetative-year blueberry fields to determine their effects on root and shoot growth, biomass allocation, and seed production of sheep sorrel plants. Hexazinone efficacy varied widely between sites, but suppressed shoot biomass, achene number and weight, and reproductive biomass, as well as the reproductive : shoot biomass ratio. Fertilizer tended to increase achene number and increased sheep sorrel shoot biomass in the absence of hexazinone, but had no effect on achene weight, root biomass, or reproductive biomass. When fertilizer was applied, sheep sorrel allocated resources to sexual reproduction at the expense of vegetative growth.

Type
Weed Biology and Ecology
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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References

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