Weed Control in Lowbush Blueberries
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Weeds, Weed and More Weeds
Weeds are inevitable. Ask any grower, and they’ll say you can always count on weeds to make their way into your field, bringing a host of problems with them.
In addition to competing with your crop for space, sunlight, nutrients, moisture and other available resources, weeds can also host diseases and insects, unintentionally introducing them into your crop. Perhaps even a bigger problem, weed seeds can lay dormant in the soil seedbank for years, just waiting for the right conditions to germinate and cause more issues in future years.
When left uncontrolled, weeds can be devastating to your bottom line and it’s not just the financial cost of reduced fruit quality and lost yield potential.
This makes it imperative to get it right the first time, especially when managing problem weeds. Annual grasses can cause significant problems in lowbush blueberries as a result of their fast growth and ability to compete for resources.1 These problem weeds can also shade the crop causing poor bud formation in the sprout year and low harvesting efficiency in the crop year. Quackgrass is a highly competitive perennial weed that is known to cause harvesting difficulties in the cropping year. Another problem weed to watch for is chickweed. An annual broadleaf weed, chickweed can reduce blueberry plant vigour as it competes for space and nutrients and are also known for causing harvest challenges.
Kerb™ SC Herbicide
Canadian lowbush blueberry growers looking to control chickweed, perennial grasses including quackgrass along with other annual grasses can rely on Kerb™ SC herbicide. A Group 3 herbicide that provides selective weed control and is readily absorbed by plants through the root system, Kerb SC translocates upwards and moves within the entire plant resulting in control.
Kerb SC should be applied at a rate of 1.66 - 2.27 L/ac in lowbush blueberries from late September to early November during the dormant stage after all fruit has been harvested.
To learn more please visit Kerb SC Herbicide or contact your local Corteva Agriscience™ Horticulture expert.
1https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2012/agr/A118-10-31-2012-eng.pdf
