Experiments were conducted to compare germination efficiencies and vegetative growth of soybean and the competing weed species, sicklepod and Palmer amaranth, over a range of temperatures in the root zone and aerial environments. From genetic origins we hypothesized that the weeds would have a higher temperature optimum, which would help explain competitive interactions seen in the southeastern U.S. Germination experiments indicated that germination efficiency of the weeds was much more sensitive to low temperature than soybean, being markedly inhibited below 18 C. Similarly, experiments in an automated, temperature-controlled hydroponic system revealed that the weed species were less tolerant of low root zone temperature but more tolerant of high root zone temperature than soybean. At 16 C, dry weight of soybean was 74% of the control dry weight at 24 C, whereas dry weights of sicklepod and Palmer amaranth were 5 and 20% of the control, respectively. At 32 C, soybean root dry weight was only 80% of the 24 C treatment, whereas root dry weight of the weed species was not significantly different. When plants were grown at a low aerial temperature, growth of all plants was strongly inhibited] but the negative effects were somewhat more severe in the weed species than with soybean. An increase in aerial temperature from 26/22 C to 34/30 C (day/night) had a positive influence on dry matter accumulation of the weed species, stimulating sicklepod 150 to 200% and Palmer amaranth 150 to 1,600% compared to their respective controls, whereas soybean remained at about 80 to 90% of the control. All species grew taller with increasing temperature. Leaf area of the weeds increased but leaf area of soybean did not increase. Consistent with our original hypothesis, the results clearly show that the weeds, which originate from warm geographical regions, respond more negatively than soybean to low temperatures in the growth environment but more positively to high temperatures. The temperature characteristics help to explain why the intensity of weed pressure increases as the soybean growing season progresses, even after canopy closure.

In greenhouse and field experiments conducted over 3 yr, tank mixtures of spores of the fungi Colletotrichum truncatum and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, formulated in unrefined corn oil and Silwet L-77 surfactant, were evaluated as a mycoherbicide mixture for simultaneous control of hemp sesbania and sicklepod, respectively. In greenhouse tests, 100% mortality and dry weight reduction of hemp sesbania occurred 6 d after treatment (DAT), whereas 15 d were required to achieve 100% mortality and dry weight reduction of sicklepod. In field experiments conducted in narrow-row (51-cm) soybean test plots, a single application of the fungal mixture formulated as described controlled hemp sesbania and sicklepod 94% and 88%, respectively, 28 DAT. Neither fungus, applied as aqueous conidial suspensions, provided control of their respective weed hosts. These results indicate that tank mixtures of these anthracnose-forming pathogens can effectively control hemp sesbania and sicklepod with a single application.

Field studies were conducted in 2002 and 2003 to determine whether canopy formation influences pitted morningglory, common cocklebur, and sicklepod emergence in surface-tilled soybean. Each weed species was broadcast seeded before planting soybean in 19- and 97-cm-wide rows. Weed emergence beneath soybean was monitored after soybean emergence and compared with weed emergence in the absence of soybean (bareground treatment). Magnitude of daily diurnal soil temperature fluctuations diminished after soybean canopy formation, and light interception by soybean was positively related to the reduction in soil temperature. Canopy formation (50% light interception) occurred 16 to 17 d later in wide compared with narrow rows in both years. The red/far-red ratio of light available to seed on or near the soil surface was reduced from as much as 1.2 in full sunlight to less than 0.1 in the presence of a dense soybean canopy. Pitted morningglory emergence was not influenced by soybean canopy formation, whereas common cocklebur and sicklepod emergence were reduced as much as 33 and 68%, respectively. Although common cocklebur and sicklepod emergence diminished after soybean canopy formation, a small portion of the seedbank of both species emerged beneath the canopy. This research indicates that in a tilled system, emergence of some weed species is diminished by presence of an overlying canopy, but emergence does not completely cease with canopy formation. Late-season emergence of sicklepod and common cocklebur beneath a soybean canopy may contribute to replenishment of the soil seedbank, especially if these late-emerging cohorts are capable of surviving until the light environment is favorable for seed production.

An experiment was conducted at two locations in Georgia and one location in North Carolina during 1994 and 1995 to evaluate weed management systems utilizing pyrithiobac applied preemergence (PRE) in conventional-tillage bromoxynil-resistant cotton. Weed management systems evaluated included different combinations of pyrithiobac PRE, bromoxynil or bromoxynil plus MSMA applied early postemergence (EPOST), bromoxynil applied postemergence (POST), and cyanazine plus MSMA applied late postemergence-directed (LAYBY). Pyrithiobac PRE improved control of Florida beggarweed, pitted morningglory, prickly sida, sicklepod, and spurred anoda compared with systems that did not include pyrithiobac PRE. Averaged across locations, pyrithiobac PRE increased cotton lint yields 330 kg ha−1. Bromoxynil applied EPOST or POST increased weed control and cotton lint yield. Bromoxynil EPOST, POST, or EPOST plus POST did not control sicklepod. The addition of MSMA to bromoxynil EPOST improved sicklepod control. Two applications of bromoxynil controlled more pitted morningglory and sicklepod than one application. Control of all dicotyledonous weeds was increased by cyanazine plus MSMA LAYBY, and this treatment increased yields at all locations. Cotton was not injured by pyrithiobac PRE or by bromoxynil applied EPOST or POST, but temporary visual injury was observed with EPOST treatments of MSMA.

Experiments were conducted to determine the influence of soybean row width and glyphosate application timing on survival, biomass production, and fecundity of three sicklepod cohorts along with soybean seed yield. The first cohort comprised sicklepod plants that emerged from soybean planting through the V3 stage of soybean (two fully developed trifoliate leaves plus the unifoliate leaves; cohort 1). The second cohort comprised plants that emerged between the V3 to V6 stages of soybean (five fully developed trifoliate leaves plus the unifoliate leaves; cohort 2), and the third cohort emerged after the V6 stage through the R2 stage of soybean (full bloom; cohort 3). Glyphosate was applied at V3; V6; V3 and V6; and V3, V6, and R2 in rows 19 and 97 cm wide, and a nontreated control was included for comparison in each row width. Survival of cohort 1 in 2004 in glyphosate-treated plots occurred only after a single glyphosate application at V3 or V6 in wide rows. Narrowing the soybean row width reduced sicklepod survival throughout the growing season, even without glyphosate. Total biomass production from all cohorts averaged over years was 1,602 g m−2 in wide rows compared with 648 g m−2 in narrow rows. Cohort 1 accounted for 70 and 77% of the total sicklepod biomass in wide and narrow rows, respectively. Cohort 2 contributed 29% of the total sicklepod biomass in wide rows and 22% in narrow rows. Cohort 3 produced minimal biomass, contributing no more than 1% of the total sicklepod biomass. Sicklepod emerging after V6 failed to produce seed in 2004, and no sicklepod seed were produced in 2005 by plants emerging after V3. Averaged over years, sicklepod from cohort 1 in nontreated controls produced 3,695 seed m−2 in narrow rows compared with 6,685 seed m−2 in wide rows. Nontreated sicklepod from cohort 2 in 2004 produced 510 seed m−2 in narrow rows compared with 1,640 seed m−2 in wide rows. Soybean yields were similar among all glyphosate applications averaged over years and row widths, ranging from 3,340 to 3,700 kg ha−1 compared with 1,290 kg ha−1 without glyphosate (61 to 65% yield loss).

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the herbicidal activity of five aliphatic (ethyl, propyl, butyl, allyl, and 3-methylthiopropyl) and three aromatic (phenyl, benzyl, 2-phenylethyl) isothiocyanates on Texas panicum, large crabgrass, and sicklepod. All isothiocyanates were applied to soil at 0, 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000 nmol g−1 of soil and incorporated. Weed emergence was generally stimulated at the lower isothiocyanate concentrations, but all isothiocyanates provided 37% or more suppression of each species at the highest concentration. Propyl and allyl isothiocyanate were most effective in suppressing Texas panicum, with 50% effective dose (ED50) values of 345 and 409 nmol g−1 of soil. All aliphatic isothiocyanates reduced Texas panicum density by at least 98%. Allyl and 3-methylthiopropyl isothiocyanate were the most effective aliphatics on large crabgrass, with density reductions of 98 and 100%, respectively. All aromatic isothiocyanates reduced large crabgrass density by 86 to 96%. Sicklepod was generally the most tolerant of the three species evaluated, with ED50 values for ethyl, propyl, and butyl isothiocyanate being greater than the evaluated concentrations. Maximum reduction in sicklepod density was 72, 68, 65, and 62%, which was achieved with allyl, benzyl, 3-methylthiopropyl, and phenyl isothiocyanate, respectively. This research shows that soil-applied and incorporated isothiocyanates are effective in suppressing some important weeds of the southeastern United States, but effectiveness of each isothiocyanate varies among species. Application techniques that minimize loss of volatile isothiocyanates may further improve their potential as an effective means of controlling these and other troublesome weeds.

A study was conducted in 2004 and 2005 to evaluate the benefit of applying fluometuron PRE versus glyphosate-only POST programs in second-generation GR cotton (Roundup Ready Flex®). Fluometuron was either included or excluded with POST application timings of glyphosate at the following cotton growth stages: (1) 3 leaf (lf) followed by (fb) 7 lf fb 14 lf (over the top) OT (2) 3 fb 7 lf OT (3) 7 lf OT fb 14 lf postemergence directed (PD), and (4) 7 fb 14 lf OT. Control of goosegrass, Palmer amaranth, pitted morningglory, sicklepod, and smellmelon was increased 2 to 8 percentage points with the addition of fluometuron PRE. The inclusion of fluometuron PRE did not improve control of barnyardgrass, browntop millet, hemp sesbania, johnsongrass, or redroot pigweed and control ranged from 81% to 84%, 69% to 75%, 94% to 94%, 87% to 89%, and 92% to 93%, respectively. By 56 d after the last POST application, control of johnsongrass, Palmer amaranth, pitted morningglory, and smellmelon was at least 83%, 93%, 92%, and 86%, respectively, with only slight differences noted among POST glyphosate programs. Control of barnyardgrass, browntop millet, and redroot pigweed was 68%, 47%, 86%, respectively, with the POST glyphosate program of 3 fb 7 lf OT, which was significantly less than all other glyphosate POST programs. Cotton yield increased 32% and 36% with the addition of fluometuron PRE to glyphosate POST programs consisting of 7 lf OT fb 14 lf PD and 7 lf fb 14 lf OT, respectively. Cotton yield for other glyphosate POST programs including an earlier 3 lf application was not improved when fluometuron was applied PRE. Without inclusion of fluometuron PRE, yield was maximized with the glyphosate POST program that included three applications of glyphosate (2,510 kg/ha). Overall, this research emphasizes the fact that weed control is important in the early season as well as in the late season in second-generation GR cotton.

Field studies conducted at three locations in North Carolina in 1998 and 1999 evaluated crop tolerance, weed control, and yield with CGA-362622 alone and in combination with various weed management systems in transgenic and nontransgenic cotton systems. The herbicide systems used bromoxynil, CGA-362622, glyphosate, and pyrithiobac applied alone early postemergence (EPOST) or mixtures of CGA-362622 plus bromoxynil, glyphosate, or pyrithiobac applied EPOST. Trifluralin preplant incorporated followed by (fb) fluometuron preemergence (PRE) alone or fb a late POST–directed (LAYBY) treatment of prometryn plus MSMA controlled all the weed species present less than 90%. Herbicide systems that included soil-applied and LAYBY herbicides plus glyphosate EPOST or mixtures of CGA-362622 EPOST plus bromoxynil, glyphosate, or pyrithiobac controlled broadleaf signalgrass, entireleaf morningglory, large crabgrass, Palmer amaranth, prickly sida, sicklepod, and smooth pigweed at least 90%. Only cotton treated with these herbicide systems yielded equivalent to the weed-free check for each cultivar. Bromoxynil systems did not control Palmer amaranth and sicklepod, pyrithiobac systems did not control sicklepod, and CGA-362622 systems did not control prickly sida.

Laboratory and greenhouse experiments were conducted to determine the effect of light, temperature, solution pH, solution osmotic potential, and oxygen concentration on sicklepod germination and radicle plus hypocotyl elongation and seeding depth on emergence. Scarified, nondormant sicklepod seeds were used for these experiments. Sicklepod germination was not influenced by red or far-red light nor was light required for germination, which averaged 81% over all light treatments. Sicklepod germinated over a range of constant temperatures from 15 to 50 C, with optimum germination between 15 and 30 C. Germination was optimal near pH 6 for temperatures of 15 and 30 C. Germination and radicle plus hypocotyl length decreased with decreasing solution osmotic potential, and no germination occurred at a solution osmotic potential of −0.75 MPa at 15 C during 7 d incubation. Germination was greater at 20% oxygen than at 2% oxygen. The mean emergence depth for sicklepod was 3.3 and 4.6 cm in a highly disturbed sand and sandy loam soil, respectively. Sicklepod emerged from a 10-cm depth in the sandy loam soil, but no emergence occurred in the sand soil at this depth.

Research was conducted to determine the effect of planting pattern, plant density, and levels of weed management intensity on intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (IPAR), weed control, and cotton lint yield in glyphosate-resistant cotton. Twin-row planting pattern canopy IPAR was 55% 7 wk after emergence (WAE) and 76% 9 WAE compared to 48% for single-row planting pattern 7 WAE and 59% 9 WAE. Regardless of cotton density, row spacing, or weed management intensity, control of browntop millet and Florida beggarweed was at least 88% 18 WAE. Benghal dayflower, sicklepod, and smallflower morningglory control was greater in twin-rows compared to single-rows at a cotton density of 7 plants m−2. Control of Benghal dayflower and sicklepod increased when cotton density increased at low weed management intensities; however, cotton density had no effect on weed control at higher levels of weed management input. At a cotton plant density of 7 plants m−2, twin-row cotton yielded 220 kg ha−1 more than the single-row planting pattern. Data indicates twin-row cotton production is feasible and that control of various weeds was better in twin-row than single-row pattern at lower cotton density and weed management intensity.