Brush Response to Spacing and Individual-Plant Herbicide Treatments

Abstract

Soil-applied herbicides were evaluated for control of blackjack oak (Quercus marilandicaMuenchh.), huisache [Acacia farnesiana(L.) Willd.], honey mesquite [Prosopis juliflora(Swartz) DC. var.glandulosa(Torr.) Cockerell], live oak (Quercus virginianaMill.), Macartney rose (Rosa bracteataWendl.), winged elm (Ulmus alataMichx.), and yaupon (Ilex vomitoriaAit.) in Texas. Various spacing of spot treatments of pelleted tebuthiuron {N-[5-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl]-N,N′-dimethylurea} on huisache and live oak and picloram (4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid) on Macartney rose up to a 2.7-m square grid did not change herbicide effectiveness. Pelleted tebuthiuron at 2.2 kg/ha reduced the canopy of live oak and killed a significant percentage of plants; however, differences among herbicide formulations and distance of placement in a grid were small. On unburned plots, 2.2 kg/ha of tebuthiuron applied as pellets at 2.7-m centers and as a broadcast wettable-powder treatment killed fewer yaupon than pellets applied in most broadcast treatments. In individual-plant treatments, bromacil (5-bromo-3-sec-butyl-6-methyluracil) and picloram solutions at 2 g/plant killed 45% of the yaupon 1.5 to 2 m tall on a fine sandy loam, whereas 0.5 g/plant of either herbicide killed 70% or more of the yaupon plants 1 m tall on a loamy fine sand. Both bromacil and picloram at 1 g/plant killed all blackjack oak and winged elm sprouts 1 to 2 m tall. On a clay soil, 1 g of bromacil/plant killed 79% of the live oak and 88% of the winged elm plants, whereas picloram killed only 38 and 45%, respectively. Neither bromacil nor picloram was effective as soil treatments for killing honey mesquite.