Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 June 2017
We sprayed yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus L.) with 0.56, 1.12, and 2.24 kg/ha of (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid (2,4-D) at the two and four-leaf stages in both field and growth chamber studies. Compared to non-treated plants, these rates significantly reduced shoot weight, rhizome weight, and rhizome number 12 days after application. There were no significant differences in these growth responses among the rates tested, when applied one, two, and three times at consecutive 12-day intervals. We pretreated two and four-leaf plants with 0.56, 1.12, and 2.24 kg/ha of 2,4-D immediately before foliar application of 14C-2,4-D. The increase in pretreatment rates decreased the percentage of the applied radioactivity which was absorbed and translocated. Of the radioactivity absorbed, a rather constant percentage translocated from the treated area in the different treatments. The radioactivity translocated from the application site for at least 288 hr after treatment. Less than 19% of the 14C-2,4-D applied was absorbed into the leaves 24 hr after application. Ninety-eight to 100% of the methanol-soluble radioactivity that translocated to developing leaves, rhizomes, and roots chromatographed identically to 14C-2,4-D.