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Hand-held Flame Cultivators for Spot Treatment Control of Soft Rush (Juncus effusus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Katherine M. Ghantous  and
Hilary A. Sandler
Katherine M. Ghantous*
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts-Amherst Cranberry Station, P.O. Box 569, East Wareham, MA. 02538
Hilary A. Sandler
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts-Amherst Cranberry Station, P.O. Box 569, East Wareham, MA. 02538
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Soft rush is a perennial plant found in or along water ditches on cranberry farms that can impede drainage as well as water movement within production areas, and can easily spread into production areas. Established tussocks are not substantially affected by chemical controls and proximity to water resources limits herbicide application. The efficacy of flame cultivation (FC) with hand-held tools is being evaluated for efficacy to manage perennial weeds in cranberry production. Two separate studies were conducted on a Massachusetts cranberry farm to evaluate the effectiveness of FC for rush control. A single exposure was made in June with an open flame (OF), infrared (IR), or infrared with a metal spike (IRS) FC tool at four different exposure durations. Stem number, biomass, and percentage flowering stems decreased linearly for plants treated with the IR torch. For plants treated with OF, the number of stems decreased linearly, while biomass and percentage flowering stems decreased quadratically as exposure duration increased. Although IR reduced rush growth, OF required shorter exposure durations (8 s versus 60 s) to achieve similar results. The IRS tool was not effective for controlling rushes. A second study compared the efficacy of a single clipping event, a single, medium exposure of OF, OF immediately followed by (fb) clipping, or clipping immediately fb OF. All treatments reduced the mean number of stems, biomass and percentage of flowering stems per tussock compared to the nontreated control but the clipping fb FC treatment reduced the number of stems more than clipping alone. Future experiments on FC use for rush control in cranberry production should explore potential improvement with multiple treatments within a single season as well as repeated annual applications of treatments.

Juncus effusus es una planta perenne que se encuentra en y a lo largo de canales de drenaje en fincas de arándanos y que puede impedir el drenaje y el movimiento del agua dentro de las áreas de producción, y puede introducirse fácilmente a las áreas de producción. Parches establecidos y compactos de esta maleza no son sustancialmente afectados por controles químicos y la cercanía a las fuentes de agua limita la aplicación de herbicidas. La eficacia del cultivo con llamas (FC) con herramientas manuales está siendo evaluado para determinar su eficacia para el manejo de malezas perennes en la producción de arándano. Se realizaron dos estudios por separado en una finca de arándanos en Massachusetts, para evaluar la efectividad de FC para el control de J. effusus. Una sola exposición fue realizada en Junio con llama expuesta (OF), infrarrojo (IR), o infrarrojo con aguja de metal (IRS) usando una herramienta FC y cuatro duraciones de exposición. El número de tallos, la biomasa, y el porcentaje de tallos floreados disminuyó linealmente para plantas tratadas con la antorcha IR. Para plantas tratadas con OF, el número de tallos disminuyó linealmente, mientras que la biomasa y el porcentaje de tallos floreados disminuyó cuadráticamente al incrementarse la duración de exposición. Aunque IR redujo el crecimiento de J. effusus, OF requirió duraciones de exposición más cortas (8 s versus 60 s) para alcanzar los mismos resultados. La herramienta IRS no fue efectiva para controlar J. effusus. Un segundo estudio comparó la eficacia de un solo evento de chapia, una sola exposición de duración media de OF, OF inmediatamente seguido de (fb) chapia, o chapia inmediatamente fb OF. Todos los tratamientos redujeron el número promedio de tallos, la biomasa, y el porcentaje de tallos floreados por parche de la maleza al compararse con el testigo sin tratamiento, pero el tratamiento de chapia fb FC redujo el número de tallos más que la chapia sola. Experimentos futuros usando FC para el control de J. effusus en la producción de arándano deberían explorar el potencial de mejoramiento con tratamientos múltiples dentro de una misma temporada además del uso repetido de aplicaciones anuales.

Keywords

Soft rush, Juncus effusus L.American cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.Cultural controlcommon rushflame weedingintegrated weed managementnonchemical controlthermal weedingtorches
Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Technology , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 121 - 127
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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