Cogongrass is a weed throughout the tropics and subtropics. Introductions early this century have spread into forests, rangelands, reclaimed mined areas, roadsides, and natural ecosystems in the southeastern United States. Vegetative reproduction is the primary mechanism for survival and local spread, and sexually produced seeds of this obligate outcrossing species provide natural long-distance dispersal. Highly germinable (≥ 90%) seeds have no dormancy, though spikelet fill may be low (≤ 40%) in natural populations. Early seedling establishment, prior to rhizome development, is low (< 20%), occurring in areas with little competition; ≥ 75% bahiagrass sod cover is required to prevent cogongrass seedling establishment. Imazapyr and glyphosate are the most effective herbicides for cogongrass control. Younger cogongrass shoots are very susceptible to these herbicides; however, longer term control of adult plants requires translocation and thereby control of the rhizomes. Autumn applications of glyphosate and imazapyr provided greatest suppression of rhizome regrowth. Effective cogongrass management options exist and depend on integrating several control strategies. Mechanical control alone provides short-term control, whereas multiple discings plus herbicide application provide longer term control. Some combinations of herbicide, discing, and revegetation with desirable plant species provide excellent control. Because of the large geographic area infested with cogongrass and the often economically and environmentally unacceptable management techniques, biological control organisms also should be researched.

Field experiments were conducted to evaluate various herbicides and application technologies for the control of cogongrass. Imazapyr at 0.8 kg ae/ha provided the highest cogongrass control, followed by glyphosate (3.4 kg ae/ha) and sulfometuron (1.1 kg ai/ha) when applied as a single application. When sequential applications were evaluated, glyphosate plus imazapyr provided the best control. Sulfometuron could be applied sequentially after imazapyr or glyphosate with no loss of control, but control was less if sulfometuron was the initial herbicide. Tank mix combinations of glyphosate and imazapyr (100% rate at 3.4 and 1.1 kg ae/ha, and subsequent rates of 0 + 100, 25 + 75, 50 + 50, 75 + 25, and 100 + 0% of each herbicide, respectively) provided similar cogongrass control regardless of rate. Control using imazapyr improved from 20 to 40% with 234 L/ha diluent volume when compared to 46 L/ha. Glyphosate at either of these volumes provided from 0 to 21% inhibition of cogongrass. A 50% concentration of imazapyr applied twice with a ropewick provided greater control than a 33% concentration with one pass or either concentration of glyphosate with one or two passes. Efficacy with glyphosate applied using a ropewick was not affected by concentration or number of passes.

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Field studies were initiated in 1985 and 1986 to evaluate the effects of dalapon, glyphosate, imazapyr, and sulfometuron applications to established cogongrass alone or in combination with either mowing or discing. Mowing and discing treatments were performed 4 mo before and 8 months after the herbicide treatments in the 1985 experiments and 2 months before and 7 months after the herbicide treatment in the 1986 experiments. When applied alone, glyphosate at 3.4 kg ai/ha and imazapyr at 0.8 kg ai/ha caused the greatest reduction in shoot and rhizome biomass about 2 yr after application. However, the rhizome infestation was reduced only 43% by glyphosate and 51% by imazapyr, as compared to the nontreated control. With no herbicide, two mowing or discing were generally more effective than a single mowing or discing treatment. The reduction in shoot and rhizome biomass for two mowing without herbicide was 65 and 38% and for two discing, 73 and 66%, respectively. Acceptable (> 80%) levels of cogongrass control, based on reductions in rhizome biomass occurred only when applications of dalapon, glyphosate, or imazapyr were made in combination with two discing despite the fact that mowing before and after treatment reduced shoot biomass by at least 89%.

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