Mesotrione and Amicarbazone Tank-mixtures for Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua) Control in Cool-season Turfgrass

Abstract

Annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.) control with postemergence herbicides in cool-season turfgrass is often inconsistent. Amicarbazone and mesotrione have complementary modes of action but have not been evaluated in tank-mixtures for control of mature annual bluegrass in cool-season turfgrass. Field experiments were conducted during 2018 in New Jersey, and in Indiana, Iowa, and New Jersey during 2019 to evaluate springtime applications of amicarbazone and mesotrione for POST annual bluegrass control in cool-season turfgrass. On separate tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) and kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) sites in 2018, three sequential applications of amicarbazone (53 g⋅ha−1) + mesotrione at 110 to 175 g⋅ha−1 provided >70% annual bluegrass control, whereas three sequential applications of amicarbazone alone at 53 and 70 as well as two sequential applications at 110 g⋅ha−1 provided <15% control at 14 weeks after initial treatment (WAIT). In 2019, results in New Jersey were similar to 2018 where amicarbazone alone provided less control than mesotrione + amicarbazone tank-mixtures. In Indiana, where the annual bluegrass infestation was severe and most mature, tank-mixtures were more effective than amicarbazone alone at 6 WAIT, but at 12 WAIT all treatments provided poor control. In Iowa, where the annual bluegrass infestation was <1 year old, all treatments provided similar control throughout the experiment and by >80% at the conclusion of the experiment. This research demonstrates that sequential applications of mesotrione + amicarbazone can provide more annual bluegrass control than either herbicide alone, but efficacy is inconsistent across locations, possibly due to annual bluegrass maturity and infestation severity.

Advances in turfgrass weed management

“…Certain tank mixtures and programs can improve annual bluegrass control, but complete annual bluegrass control using herbicides alone is unlikely in cool-season turfgrass with current herbicide options. Combinations of preemergence and postemergence herbicides (Reicher et al, 2017), low-rate sequential application programs (Jeffries et al, 2013;Skelton et al, 2012), and tank mixtures of mesotrione + amicarbazone (Elmore et al, 2022b) can improve annual bluegrass control, but efficacy is consistently inconsistent across geographic locations and years. To better understand inconsistencies in annual bluegrass control in both cool-and warm-season turfgrass, future research should document management practices [e.g.…”