The effects of the autumn-application of selected herbicides, i. e. liquid formulation of glyphosate and glufosinate, water-soluble granular formulation of bialaphos, and granular type of DBN-DCMU, on the growth of
Rumex obtusifolius L. which is one of the dominant weeds in apple orchards were investigated. The results obtained in the present study are as follows:
1. When the herbicides were applied in mid-November, the amounts (fresh and dry weights) of weeds in the following spring were reduced, and thus an additional herbicide application or weeding was not required until mid June.
Rumex obtusifolius L. was effectively controlled by these herbicides.
2. The application of herbicides, i. e. glufosinate and bialaphos, was most effective in late autumn, before the weeds began to wither.
3. The amount of NO
3-N in the soils in early spring depended on the amount of weeds. The NO
3-N concentration in the soils was high when the amount of weeds was small.
4. In the plots where a larger amount of weeds was present at the time of fertilizer application, most of the nitrogen applied was immediately absorbed by the weeds. Thus, the translocation of nitrogen into the root zone of the apple trees was markedly restricted.
5. The amount of nitrogen in the weeds ranged from 3.1 to 3.8% on an oven-dry basis. The quantity of nitrogen absorbed by the weeds was estimated to be equivalent to approximately 150 kg-N as fertilizer per ha when the weeds grew profusely until early June.
6. As the effect of fertilizer application was enhanced by the application of herbicides in autumn, the amount of nitrogen available to the apple trees remained in the soils.
7. These results indicate that the autumn application of herbicides in the apple orchards reduced the labor requirement for weed control in early spring and at the same time the effect of fertilizer application was enhanced. Consequently, herbicide application in autumn was advantageous for the systematic control of weeds in apple orchards.
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