Weeds In Vegetable

Fields
Introduction

 Cause considerable yield loss in vegetable crops b

 Competes for nutrient, light water, and carbon dioxide

 Weeds serve as host for insect pests and plant pathogens

 Purslane (Portulaca oleraceae) and Tropic ageratum (Ageratum conyzoides) have been
found to serve as host for root-knot nematode
 spiny amaranth (Trianthema portulascastrum) is a host of tobacco mosaic virus
 Jungle rice ((Echinochloa colonum) is a host for rice-whorl maggot
Weeds

 Plants that grows out of place

 Unwanted and undesirable plants
 Plants whose potentials for damage outweigh its potential for usefulness
Yield reduction due to weeds in some vegetable
crops in the Philippines
CROP % Yield Reduction
Cabbage 16-90

Tomatoes 39-86

Beans 42-60

Onions 67-88

White potatoes 10-18

 Weed Classifications
•
Grasses – cogon
•
Sedges – nutsedge
•
Broadleaves – milkweed
•
Life cycle:
– Annual – main problem
– Biennial – usually not a problem
– Perennial – difficult to control 5
3 types of weeds

6
 Weed Competition
•
Water
•
Nutrients
•
Sunlight
•
Carbon dioxide
•
Space
Weeds usually dominate because of their
aggressive growth habit
9
 Weed Competition
•
Critical period – from emergence until 4 weeks
later
•
Weeds harbor insects and disease
•
Some weeds are allelopathic
•
Results to yield reduction, poor quality and
contamination of harvest with weed seed

10
 Competition
The time a weed spends in contact with a crop
plant can have a dramatic effect on yield.
 Competition
The time a weed spends in contact with a crop
plant can have a dramatic effect on yield.

The corn plot to the left had weeds removed early in the
growing season; while in the plot to the right, the weeds
were allowed to persist until much later in the growing
season, which greatly restricted growth of the corn crop.
 COMMON WEEDS
WEED IDENTIFICATION IS THE KEY

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Bermuda Grass

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Cynodon dactylon

Perennial

Dormant in
the cool season
Crabgrass

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Digitaria ischaemum

Annual

Warm season
Curly Dock

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Rumex crispus

Perennial
Dandelion

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Taraxacum officinale

Perennial
Knotweed

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Polygonum aviculare

Annual

Warm season
Lambsquarters

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Chenopodium album

Annual

Warm season
Oxalis

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Oxalis spp.

Perennial
Petty Spurge

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Euphorbia peplus

Annual

Cool season
Prostrate Spurge

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Euphorbia maculata

Annual

Warm season
Purslane

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Portulaca oleraceae

Annual

Warm season
Yellow Nutsedge

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Cyperus esculentus

Perennial
Fall panicum
(Panicum dichotomiflorum)

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
Most common grass in the area
 Relatively easy to identify

Stem can be hairy or smooth (hairy when
young)

Ligule fringe of hairs

Round stem

Widely dispersed seedhead
 Alexandergrass
(Brachiaria plantaginea)

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 Relatively prostrate growth

Somewhat wide leaves with straight margins

Round stems

Usually light green in color

Very similar to broadleaf panicum
 leaves narrower (usually)
 margins straight rather than wavy (usually)
Napiergrass
(Pennisetum pupureum)

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
Very robust plant
 Forms dense clumps in fields
 Long, wide leaves with finely toothed
margin
 Up to 12 feet tall
 Seedhead has “bottle brush” appearance
Paragrass (Brachiaria mutica)

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Goosegrass (Elusine indica)

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
Found in many fields

Low growing
 Very white, flattened stems
 Looks like it has been stepped on
 Probably not competitive
 Crabgrass
(Digitaria spp.)

 Very wide first leaf

 Initial clumping growth
progressing to prostrate, tillering
 Visible membranous ligule
 Can be very hairy, or hairless,
depending on species

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 Spiny pigweed
(Amaranthus spinosus)

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
Most common pigweed species
 Stickerweed

Large, upright growth habit, entire leaves

Very evident spines located at nodes
Alligatorweed
(Alternanthera philoxeroides)

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
Common in many areas
of the EAA
 Prefers wet areas
 Often spread by cultivation
 Low growing

Hollow stems when growing in
wet spots

Opposite leaves

Small white blooms
Critical Period of Weed Competition

 There is a period of crop growth when weed competition is most damaging

 Injury to crops caused by weeds occur during the first 25-30% of their life duration.
This is called the critical period of weed competition.

 Ann appropriate time to apply control measures

Common Weeds species in vegetable
fields in the Philippines
 High Elevation Areas
 Corn Spurry (Spergula arvensis)
 Small-flower galinsoga (Galinsoga parviflora)
 Annual sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus)
 Annual bluegrass (Poa annua)
Common Weeds species in vegetable
fields in the Philippines
 Lower Elevations
 Common purslane (Portulaca oleraceae)
 Spiny amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus)
 Three-lobe morning glory (Ipomea triloba)
 Jungle rice ((Echinochloa colonum)
 Garden spurge ( Euphorbia hirta )
 Goose grass (Eleusine indica)
 Itch grass (Rottboellia exaltata)
 Purple nut sedge (Cyperus rotundus)
 Bermuda grass ( Cynodon dactylon)
General considerations

 Timing of weeding is very important for vegetable production

 Weeding at an early stage of weed growth is necessary before it can pose serious
competition to the crops especially if both crops and weeds are still small

 Injury is minimized when weeding is done while the weeds and the vegetable crop are
still small
General considerations

 Rice straw, sugar cane bagasse and paper mulches may readily decompose and
after one cropping they can easily be incorporated in the soil
 Timing of weeding is very important for vegetable production

 Weeding at an early stage of weed growth is necessary before it can pose serious
competition to the crops especially if both crops and weeds are still small

 Injury is minimized when weeding is done while the weeds and the vegetable crop are
still small
Methods in Weed Control

 Physical methods
 Hand pulling
 Hoeing
 Tillage (cultivation)
 Mulching

 Chemical methods
 Use of herbicides
Methods in Weed Control
 Physical methods

 Hand pulling
 For home gardens
 Cannot be done by hoe or cultivating tools due to closely spaced plantings
or crop not arranged systematically
 Works best for annual and biennial
 Effective in controlling annual and biennial weeds
 Requires much labor
Methods in Weed Control
 Physical methods

 Hoeing
 Very effective and less harmful to vegetable crops when done on time and on vegetables
planted in regular rows

 Tillage (Cultivation)
 A field operation which breaks a shallow soil surface either before or after planting
Methods in Weed Control
 Physical methods

 Mulching
 A method which prevents light from reaching the ground and thus prevents the weeds from
growing
 Mulching Materials
 Straw
 Rice hull
 Cane bagasse
 Sawdust
 Paper and black plastic films
 Except for paper and plastic films, these materials are spread 2-3 inches thick on top of
the soil around the vegetable plants
Methods in Weed Control
 Physical methods

 Benefits of plastic mulch

 Improve fruit quality especially during wet season (keeping the fruit off
the ground, thus, reduce rotting)
 Increased soil temperature in mulched beds hastens growth of vegetable
crops in temperate regions
 Conserved soil moisture especially during dry season
Methods in Weed Control
 Chemical Method
 Use of herbicide is now widely practiced in more advanced countries
and tremendously reduced labor cost and provided more efficient weed
control
 In the Philippines, chemical weed control is practiced in vegetable
crops planted in large hectarage and in situations when the ground is
too wet for cultivation
Methods in Weed Control
 Chemical Method

 Mechanism of action of herbicides

 Inhibit photosynthesis (2,4-D)

 Disrupt growth processes (MCPA and CIPC)
 Disrupt integrity of membrane and result in tissue desiccation (paraquat)
Methods in Weed Control
 Chemical Method

 Selectivity of Herbicide
 Non-selective herbicide kill all vegetation when applied at adequate rate
 Selective herbicide kill or stunt weeds without harming the crop beyond
the point of recovery
Methods in Weed Control
 Chemical Method
 Selectivity can be achieved by any or a combination of the following
1. Differential absorption
1. Results from difference in the morphology of plants species . Factors like
wax on leaf surface, angle of exposure, presence of trichomes influence the
degree of absorption
2. Differential translocation
1. To be effective, a herbicide must enter and be translocated to the site of
action
2. Accumulation or binding of the herbicide to tissue away from the site of
action would result in differential translocation
Methods in Weed Control
 Chemical Method
 Selectivity can be achieved by any or a combination of the following

1. Differential metabolism of herbicide

1. Herbicide that are phytotoxic when applied are tolerated by plants that are
capable of degrading them a faster rate than those that degrade the
chemical at a lower pace.

2. Plants that convert a non-toxic chemical to more toxic products are easily
killed by the said treatment compared to plants with slower conversion rate
Salamat!!!