Response of Four Turfgrass Species to Ethofumesate

Abstract

Annual bluegrass and roughstalk bluegrass are turfgrasses, but they can also be two of the most serious weed problems in highly maintained turfgrass. Ethofumesate has been used to control annual bluegrass; however, the results have been erratic, and ethofumesate is not widely utilized for annual bluegrass control in turfgrass. The objective of this research was to characterize the response of annual, roughstalk, and Kentucky bluegrasses and creeping bentgrass to a range of ethofumesate rates. Single applications of ethofumesate from 3.4 to 20.2 kg ai/ha were made to all four species during May of 1999 to 2001. All four species were injured from rates of ≥6.7 kg/ha. Roughstalk bluegrass was most injured by a single ethofumesate application. Percent roughstalk bluegrass control increased linearly with rate, and greater than 85% control was observed for rates of ≥16.8 kg/ha. In contrast, annual bluegrass showed almost no control, with rates ≤10.2 kg/ha, and the highest rate tested, 20.2 kg/ha, controlled only 47 to 62% of the annual bluegrass. Kentucky bluegrass was the least sensitive bluegrass species, with a maximum control of 3 to 15% from 20.2 kg/ha of ethofumesate. Creeping bentgrass was the least sensitive of the species tested, with low levels of control regardless of rate. During 3 yr of testing, maximum control of bentgrass from any rate was 4%. Single, high-rate applications of ethofumesate hold promise to control roughstalk bluegrass in creeping bentgrass turf. Sixteen Kentucky bluegrass cultivars used for low-cut athletic fields were evaluated for their tolerance to sequential ethofumesate applications during 1999 and 2002. The cultivars showed significant differences in ethofumesate tolerance, with ‘Moonlight’ and ‘America’ never showing any injury to sequential ethofumesate applications, while ‘Northstar’ and ‘Total Eclipse’ were severely injured.