Buffalograss Tolerance to Postemergence Herbicides

Abstract

Buffalograss [Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.] is a turfgrass species traditionally adapted to low-rainfall areas that may incur unacceptable weed encroachment when grown in higher rainfall areas such as Florida. An experiment was performed to evaluate the tolerance of two new buffalograss cultivars, `Oasis' and `Prairie', to postemergence herbicides commonly used for grass, broadleaf, and sedge weed control. Twenty to 40 days were required for each cultivar to recover from treatment with asulam, MSMA, and sethoxydim (2.24, 2.24, and 0.56 kg-ha-l, respectively). Other herbicides used for postemergence grass weed control (metsulfuron, quinclorac, and diclofop at 0.017, 0.56, and 1.12 kg·ha-1, respectively) did not cause unacceptable buffalograss injury. Herbicides used for postemergence broadleaf weed control, triclopyr, 2,4-D, sulfometuron, dicamba (0.56, 1.12, 0.017, and 0.56 kg·ha-1, respectively), and a three-way combination of 2,4-D + dicamba + mecoprop (1.2 + 0.54 + 0.13 kg·ha-1), caused 20 to 30 days of unacceptable or marginally acceptable turfgrass quality, while 20 days were required for `Prairie' buffalograss to recover from atrazine treatments. `Oasis' buffalograss did not fully recover from 2,4-D or 2,4-D + dicamba + mecoprop through 40 days after treatment. Herbicides used for postemergence sedge control, bentazon and imazaquin, caused slightly reduced, but acceptable, levels of turf quality in both cultivars throughout the experiment. Chemical names used: 6-chloro-N-ethyl-N'-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine (atrazine); methyl[(4-aminophenyl)sulfonyl]carhamate (asulam); 3-(1-methylethyl)-(1H)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazin-4(3H)-one 2,2-dioxide (bentazon); 3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid (dicamba); (±)-2-[4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenoxy]propanoic acid (diclofop); 2-[4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)-5-oxo-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-3-quinolinecarboxylic acid (imazaquin); (±)-2-(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)propanoic acid (mecoprop); 2-[[[[(4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)amino]carbonyl]amino]sulfonyl]benzoic acid (metsulfuron); monosodium salt of methylarsonic acid (MSMA); 2-[1-(ethoxyimino)butyl]-5-[2-(ethylthio)propyl]-3-hydroxy-2-cyclohexen-1-one(sethoxydim); 2-[[[[(4,6-dimethylethyl-2-pyrimidinyl)amino]carbonyl]amino]sulfonyl]benzoic acid (sulfometuron); [(3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinyl)oxy]acetic acid (triclopyr); (2,4-dichlorophenoxyl)acetic acid (2,4-D); 3,7-dichloro-8-quinolinecarboxylic acid (quinclorac).