COMPARISON OF THE EFFICACY AND SOIL CONCENTRATIONS OF FALL- AND SPRING-APPLIED TRIFLURALIN IN FLAX

Abstract

The efficacy of fall and spring treatments of trifluralin (α,α-trifluoro-2,6- dinitro-N, N-diproply-p-toluidine) applied to a sandy loam soil seeded to flax and the residual soil concentrations of trifluralin during the growing season were compared over 2 yr. Fall application of trifluralin at 1.12 kg/ha caused less crop injury and resulted in better green foxtail (Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv.) control than a spring application at 0.84 kg/ha. Initial soil concentrations were higher in plots treated in the fall at 1.12 kg/ha than in plots treated in the spring at 0.84 kg/ha. Six weeks after the experiments were seeded to flax and after harvest, more trifluralin persisted in the fall-treated plots. Calculated on the basis of the amount detected at the time of seeding, an average of 31 and 30% of the trifluralin persisted until after harvest in 1978 and 1979, respectively. In controlled environment studies in which yellow foxtail (Setaria glauca L. Beauv.) was seeded into soil collected six weeks after seeding, growth of the weed was reduced more in soil that was treated in the fall compared to the spring. In soil samples taken after harvest, growth of yellow foxtail was significantly reduced only in soil that had been treated the previous fall, with about a 50% reduction resulting from the 1.12-kg/ha rate and a 90% reduction occurring from the 2.24-kg/ha rate.Key words: Setaria viridis, flax tolerance, green foxtail control, trifluralin residues