Seashore Paspalum Tolerance to Amicarbazone at Various Seasonal Application Timings

Abstract

Turfgrass injury from triazines has limited the use of photosystem II (PS II) inhibitors for weed control in seashore paspalum. Amicarbazone is a new PS II inhibitor with potential safety in seashore paspalum, but the effects of application timing on turf tolerance has received limited investigation. Field experiments were conducted in Griffin, GA to evaluate the tolerance of ‘Sea Isle 1’ seashore paspalum to amicarbazone applications in winter, spring, and summer. Seashore paspalum had minimal injury (< 5%) from amicarbazone treatments (98, 196, and 392 g ai ha−1) applied for annual bluegrass control in winter and spring. By 6 wk after treatment (WAT), amicarbazone at 392 g ha−1provided 78 and 90% annual bluegrass control in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and was similar to pronamide at 1,680 g ai ha−1. Amicarbazone at 196 g ha−1provided 71% control of annual bluegrass in 2014, but control was poor (< 70%) in 2013. Sequential amicarbazone applications at 98 g ha−1provided poor control in both years by 6 WAT. From six amicarbazone rates (up to 984 g ha−1) applied in summer, seashore paspalum required 510 and < 123 g ha−1for 20% turfgrass injury (I20) and 20% clipping reduction (CR20), respectively, whereas I20and CR20measured > 984 g ha−1for ‘Tifway’ bermudagrass. Overall, amicarbazone may be safely applied to seashore paspalum in winter, spring, and summer at rates and regimens evaluated. However, seashore paspalum may exhibit shoot growth inhibition up to 4 WAT, suggesting that end users should be cautious when using amicarbazone during active growth in summer.