By: Rome Ethredge
Weeds in Wheat
Now is an opportune time, although too late for this year, to see where a spray of post emergent herbicide or two around planting time really will help with weed control.
Last week I was in a wheat field where the grower hopes to have a good crop with few weeds to fight. I saw a problem with some ryegrass growing well. I could tell by the size and how some was covered by soil that the ryegrass was there, alive and well, at planting. It was probably very small at the time but is now growing to be a problem, competing for moisture, light and fertility with the crop. It will be a problem after harvest as well due to being mixed in with the wheat grain, especially if being grown for seed.
It’s easy to spot the young ryegrass plants due to their shiny appearance. The first place to look for them is on field borders.
Culpepper has a good, 2 page wheat herbicide sheet, below, that goes into details concerning ryegrass and wild mustard control in wheat. There are options for post emergent control but remember that ryegrass becomes resistant very easily to herbicides so carefully read how to rotate chemistries.
