Use of Select Herbicides for Pre and Post Emergence Control of Poa annua When Overseeding Bermudagrass with Perennial Ryegrass

Abstract

Overseeding bermudagrass turf with perennial ryegrass is essentially a standard practice in south western turfgrass maintenance. This practice complicates (and often negates) the pre-emergence control of Poa annua (PA) which germinates within the overseeding window. Outplay (mesotrione) was applies as pre , post and pre+post applications to control PA in golf turf (overseed on October 2, 2006). Outplay was applied with Trimmit as a post emergence treatment. Barricade and Barricade + Monument were applied post emergence. On non overseeded turf: The greatest amount of (PA) weed control was achieved by the treatment of Barricade 16 ounce/product/acre (8WBOS) and Monument 16 gm (2WBOS) (Table 3). This treatment had no PA initially (2 November) 93% control on 17 November, and 7 December, 90% control on 4 January, dropping to 77% control by 16 February. Outplay applied pre-emergence as a sole treatment had little or no affect on PA, providing essentially no control. This was even true for the high rate of 16 ounces of product, applied 1 week before overseeding. Outplay applied both pre/post at eight ounces also had little effect on PA. The same was true for Outplay applied as two post emergence treatments [( 8 + 8 ) or (16 + 16) ounce rates] (Table 3). Prograss had a maximum weed control of 50% on January 4, sixteen days after its repeat application of 64 ounce. The post emergence tank mix of Outplay and Trimmit, followed by Trimmit alone had a maximum of 50% (PA) weed control on January 4, which declined afterwards. Overseeded Turf: Barricade and Barricade plus Monument had good control initially (94% 16 February), noting that the addition of Monument increased percent weed control by 10% in March (Table 8). Outplay applied alone as a pre-emergence product, had minimal control, with the high rate of 16 ounces applied 1 week before overseeding providing nominal weed control (65%, 41%, 58%) on 16 February, 15 March, 26 March, respectively. Outplay applied as a post emergence treatment only, exhibited good to moderate weed control, with the 16 and 16 ounce repeat treatments having better weed control than the 8 ounce plus 8 ounce treatments (applied 8 weeks and 12 weeks after overseeding, respectively). The 16 and 16 ounce treatment had 100%, 82% and 78% weed control on 16 February, 15 March, and 26 March, respectively (Table 8). Prograss applied twice as a post emergence provided similar levels of PA control (100%, 85%, 89%) on those same dates, respectively. Finally, when Outplay was applied as a post emergence treatment with Trimmit, weed control was good to moderate, providing 88%, 67%, and 78% weed control on overseeded turfs on 16 February, 15 March, and 26 March, respectively (Table 8). The affect of overseeding itself based on NTC means of overseeding and nonoverseed turfs (no herbicides) showed that overseeding alone suppressed PA by 93% on 16 February, 91% on 15 March and 59% on 26 March.