- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
Irrigation is crucial for the production of melons in California. It facilitates seed germination, it is essential for crop growth and fruit production, and, for growers that apply pre-emergence herbicides, it is necessary for product activation.
Pre-plant irrigation (pre-irrigation) is used to develop an optimal planting bed for the crop, however, it can also stimulate weed seed germination. Knowing this, growers must be prepared to use pre-emergence (i.e. soil-applied, residual herbicides) or post-emergence (i.e. flaming, or foliar-applied herbicides) to reduce crop-weed competition. Early weed control is important; to maximize crop yields, young melons should remain weed-free for up to eight...
- Author: Carl E. Bell
- Posted by: Gale Perez
From the Invasive Plants in Southern California blog :: June 11, 2014
Preemergence herbicides for wildland weed control
Kill weeds before they ever see the light of day; sounds great, doesn't it? That is what preemergence herbicides are for. They are a mainstay in commercial agriculture and ornamental landscapes, so why not in wildlands? While there are situations where they would be very helpful I have some concerns that make me reluctant to recommend them in general.
First of all, what is a preemergent herbicide? (The shorthand version is PREE, so I'll use that term for the rest of this blog.) These are...
- Posted by: Brad Hanson
Repost of an article orginally posted by Brent Holz at The Almond Doctor blog on January 27th.
Brad
Dormant Weed Control in Tree Nut Crops 2014
by Mick Canevari, Brent Holtz, and Brad Hanson
Current dry weather has preempted most normal winter weed germination and growth while prolonged periods of dry soil has caused some...
- Author: Cheryl A. Wilen
- Posted by: Gale Perez
I recently met with a grower who wanted to put down a preemergent herbicide to get ahead of winter weeds. The crop he is growing has very limited choices but Surflan A.S. could be used. Surflan and other members of the dinitroaniline class of herbicides act by disrupting cell division in the roots of germinating seeds and resulting in death of the very young seedling before it even reaches the soil surface.
However, to be effective the herbicide needs to be where the root radicle of the seeds are so it either has to be incorporated mechanically or moved into the soil through rainfall or irrigation. The commonly accepted term for this is “activation”.
From the Surflan A.S. label:
- Posted By: Oleg Daugovish
- Written by: Oleg Daugovish
Water prices are increasing and so are the regulatory pressures on agricultural runoff and sediment losses. How much more efficient can vegetable growers get with their irrigation practices? Drip irrigation as the most efficient method of field irrigation is not new to vegetable growers but the sprinklers are typically used for the first 4-6 weeks for the transplant establishment and either application of herbicides with overhead water or activation of herbicides previously applied by ground methods.
However, there are several vegetable operations that rely solely on drip as an irrigation method from start to finish, even for such water-thirsty...