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Herbaceous weed control in an old-field planted longleaf pine stand

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Abstract—Over 110,000 acres of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) have been planted on old fields in Georgia since 1998 in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Part of the CRP guidelines mandate that no more than 500 trees acre-1 are planted. This relatively low planting density, coupled with shade intolerance and high cost of containerized longleaf pine seedlings, make optimizing early survival a high priority. A study area in Emanuel County, GA, was installed (spring 2000) to discern the effectiveness of various herbicides banded over newly planted longleaf seedlings in a former cotton field. Survival and height growth data after herbicide treatment indicate that the early (April 7, 2000) Oust+Velpar L herbicide treatment gave greater initial survival and height growth than nine later herbicide treatments (May 9, 2000) or an untreated control. First-year survival ranged between 90 percent with the April 7 Oust+Velpar L treatment and 40 to 65 percent with the May 9 herbicide treatments. After years, the number of trees out of the grass stage and mean heights of the trees were significantly greater with the April 7 herbicide application. During the spring of 2000, rainfall patterns were 5 percent of normal in this region. It appears that the April 7 herbicide treatment allowed the seedlings to survive this critical dry spell. These results indicate that substantial establishment costs can be saved with an earlier herbicide application under severe spring drought conditions.

Parent Publication

Citation

McElvany, Bryan C.; Dickens, E. David; Torrance, Philip R. 2006. Herbaceous weed control in an old-field planted longleaf pine stand. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-92. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 106-108
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/23350