Fading Activities of Herbicidal Droplets Amended with Emulsifiable Spray Adjuvants on Cucurbitaceous Leaves

Abstract

Abstract. Understanding reactions of surfactant-amended droplets on difficult-to-wet weed surfaces could help develop application strategies to increase herbicide efficacy. Behaviors of herbicidal droplets containing different emulsifiable anti-evaporation spray adjuvants were investigated by characterizing 250 and 450 µm herbicidal droplet dispersion and fading time on cucurbitaceous leaves placed inside a 20°C chamber at 30% and 60% relative humidity (RH). Droplet maximum coverage area increased with droplet size but not with RH, while droplet fading time increased with both droplet size and RH. Despite 450 µm droplets having greater maximum coverage area than 250 µm droplets, the larger droplets had higher fading rates and lower ratios of maximum coverage area to droplet volume. Droplet maximum coverage area and fading time on leaves were affected by adding spray adjuvants to the herbicide-only solution. The Uptake surfactant was more effective than the other two surfactants (AntiEvap+BS1000 and Enhance) in increasing droplet maximum coverage area and fading time. Compared to the herbicide-only solution, addition of Uptake surfactant to the herbicide solution could increase maximum coverage area by 68% and 52% for 250 and 450 µm droplets, respectively, but addition of AntiEvap+BS1000 or Enhance surfactants did not show significant increase. Similarly, addition of Uptake surfactant to the herbicide-only solution increased droplet fading times by 11.1% and 13.2% at 30% and 60% RH, respectively, for 250 µm droplets and by 34.7% and 2.8% at 30% and 60% RH, respectively, for 450 µm droplets. In contrast, addition of AntiEvap+BS1000 surfactant reduced fading time, and addition of Enhance surfactant did not significantly affect fading time. Therefore, appropriate selection of spray adjuvants for herbicide applications could significantly influence droplet deposit behaviors on cucurbitaceous leaves, leading to improved effectiveness of weed control. Keywords: Herbicide application, Spray deposition, Spray droplet, Surfactant, Weed control.