Corn (Zea mays L.) in the two to three-leaf stage grown 18 to 21 days in a growth chamber under cold, wet conditions was injured by postemergence application of 2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isopropylamino)-s-triazine (atrazine) plus emulsifiable phytobland oil. Injury was most severe when these plants were kept under cold, wet conditions for 48 hr after the herbicidal spray was applied, followed by exposure to high light intensity and high temperature. Under these growth chamber conditions, approximately 50% of the atrazine-treated plants died. Since wet foliage before and after application increased foliar penetration and low temperature decreased the rate of detoxication to peptide conjugates, atrazine accumulated under cold, wet conditions. This accumulation of foliarly-absorbed atrazine and the “weakened” conditions of the plants grown under the stress conditions is believed to be responsible for the injury to corn. Hydroxylation and the dihydroxybenzoxazin-3-one content in the roots were reduced at low temperature, but it is unlikely that this contributed to the death of the corn.

Under the erractic rainfall distribution of the Southern Great Plains, average pigweed (Amaranthus sp.) control in five studies with seven herbicides was enhanced by incorporation in 1 or 3 inches of soil with a power rototiller. Compared to no incorporation, 9-inch incorporation improved pigweed control with two herbicides, had no effect on weed control with two others, and decreased weed control with another three. Soil incorporation at 1 or 3 inches did not increase weed control with three compounds if 0.4 inch of rainfall occurred within 2 weeks after application. Incorporation into 1 or 3 inches of soil improved weed control with four herbicides even when rainfall occurred within 2 days after application. In four of the trials, neither herbicides nor incorporation depth affected cotton stand or vigor. Under the soil moisture conditions prevailing in the one trial where yield data were obtained, cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) stand and lint yield decreased lineally with depth of soil incorporation. Herbicides did not affect cotton stand or yield.

Ten plant species were grown in competition with each other at different soil moisture levels in a greenhouse. Corn (Zea mays L.), barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) Beauv.), cocklebur (Xanthium pensylvanicum Wallr.), sorghum (Sorghum vulgare L., var. RS 626), and large crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis (L) Scop.) produced the most growth in wet soil. Dry soil greatly reduced growth of these species. Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats.) produced an intermediate amount of growth under wet and medium soil moisture and much less in dry soil. Kochia (Kochia scoparia (L.) Schrad.), Russian thistle (Salsola kali L., var. tenuifolia Tausch), buffalobur (Solanum rostratum Dunal.), and tumble-grass (Schedonnardus paniculatus (Nutt.) Trel.) produced much less growth under wet conditions than the more competitive species, but growth was not reduced in dry soil. Russian thistle produced twice as much growth in dry as in wet soil.

Trifluralin a,a,a-trifluoro-2,6-dinitro-N,N-dipropyl-p-toluidine) applied at 1.12 kg/ha inhibited lateral root development on field-grown pecan (Carya illinoensis (Wang.) K. Koch) seedlings. In a greenhouse study, inhibition of lateral roots, club-shaped radicles, and restricted penetration of tap roots resulted when pecans were planted in soil treated with 1.0 ppm trifluralin. When pecans were planted above soil treated with trifluralin, normal root development occurred only in the soil which had not been treated. Lateral roots were inhibited in the trifluralin-treated soil. Pecan nuts from trifluralin plots were smaller than those collected from controls, but other factors of quality were statistically equal or superior to nuts harvested in plots which had been treated with 2-chloro-4,6-bis-(ethylamino)-s-triazine (simazine) and 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (diuron). The smaller nut size was attributed to lateral root inhibition by trifluralin early during nut development.

Simazine (2-chloro-4,6-bis(ethylamino)-s-triazine), 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (diuron), and a,a,a-trifluoro-2,6-dinitro-N,N-dipropyl-p-toluidine (trifluralin) were evaluated for weed control in pecan (Carya illinoensis (Wang.) K. Koch) orchard establishment. Maximum weed control and tree growth occurred in plots treated with diuron and simazine applied at 3.0 and 4.0 lb/A, respectively. During the second year, phytotoxic symptoms were observed in plots which had received superimposed annual treatments of diuron at 3.0 lb/A, but none appeared in simazine or trifluralin plots.

Seeds of honey mesquite (Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC. var. glandulosa (Torr.) Cockerell) were germinated and grown in aqueous solutions of the sodium salt of (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)acetic acid (2,4,5-T) or the potassium salt of 4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid (picloram). Elongation of germinating seedling hypocotyls and roots was progressively inhibited by increasing concn of each herbicide up to about 1 or 2 mg/L the first 2 days. After 5 and 10 days, progressively more inhibition occurred at 5 to 10 mg/L of 2,4,5-T and 1 to 2 mg/L of picloram. Four-month-old honey mesquite seedlings were treated with foliar sprays of the 2-ethylhexyl ester of 2,4,5-T or the potassium salt of picloram. Both herbicides caused curling of the stem tip, death of the growing point, cracking below the leaf, and increased numbers of lateral roots. Both herbicides caused phellem cells to enlarge radially, inner cortext and phloem parenchyma to proliferate, and xylem vessels to lignify without enlarging. Starch granules disappeared from treated plants within 8 days and re-occurred in treated plants only 53 days after spraying. Picloram was slightly more toxic to honey mesquite seedlings than 2,4,5-T.