Sicklepod control with seven chemical treatments was evaluated in 25-cm and 97-cm soybean row widths. Metribuzin applied preplant incorporated followed by metribuzin applied preemergence, and metribuzin applied preplant incorporated followed by either imazaquin or chlorimuron applied postemergence controlled sicklepod over 90% early in the season, and row spacing did not influence control at that evaluation. In late season ratings, all herbicide treatments controlled sicklepod better in 25-cm rows than in 97-cm rows. However, only imazaquin applied sequentially or metribuzin followed by chlorimuron in 25-cm rows controlled sicklepod greater than 80% late in the season. Sicklepod control in 25-cm row soybean with either imazaquin or metribuzin plus chlorimuron applied preplant incorporated was equivalent to or better than sequential preemergence and postemergence treatments of these three herbicides in 97-cm rows. All treatments resulted in lower yields than the weed-free check in the 97-cm rows, whereas all herbicide treatments except the sequential application of metribuzin gave yields equivalent to the weed free check in 25-cm rows.

Experiments were conducted in 1989 and 1990 to investigate the influence of 220 g ai ha–1 AC 263,222, 840 g ai ha-4 glufosinate, 560 g ai ha–1 glyphosate, and 840 g ai ha–1 paraquat applied at R5, R6, R7, and R8 soybean growth stages as harvest-aid treatments on soybean seed quality. Soybean yield was severely reduced by all herbicides applied at R5. Only paraquat and glufosinate reduced soybean yield when applied at R6, and none of the herbicides reduced yield when applied at R7 or R8. Paraquat and glufosinate reduced seed weight when applied at RS and R6. Glyphosate and AC 263,222 reduced seed germination when applied at RS, R6, and R7 growth stages, and normal seedling percentages were also reduced by glyphosate at these growth stages. Glufosinate and AC 263,222 affected normal seedlings only at R5 and R6. Soybean hypocotyl and primary root lengths were reduced by glyphosate and AC 263,222 applications at R5 and R6, whereas glufosinate and paraquat did not affect these variables. Glyphosate applied at R5 reduced shoot weight in 1-mo-old soybean plants. No effects were observed on soybean yield, seed germination or seedling development when herbicides were applied at R8.

Sicklepod control with one or two cultivations or postemergence (POE) directed-spray applications of linuron or metribuzin plus 2,4-DB was less than 50% in August evaluations when no soil-applied herbicide had been used. However, sicklepod control greater than 75% was noted through August when two cultivations or metribuzin plus 2,4-DB applied POE followed either metribuzin applied preplant incorporated (PPI) and preemergence (PRE) or metribuzin plus alachlor applied as a PRE treatment. One cultivation after these soil-applied herbicide treatments did not reduce sicklepod populations compared to the chemical treatments alone. Soybean yields more than doubled over yields in untreated plots when a combination of soil-applied herbicides and two cultivations or metribuzin plus 2,4-DB applied POE were used.

Imazaquin at 140, 280, and 420 g ai ha-1 did not negatively affect seedling emergence from high vigor (98% germination) soybean seed but, coupled with a 5.0-cm herbicide incorporation depth, reduced seedling emergence from low vigor (67% germination) seed at all rates. Imazaquin at 420 g ha-1 incorporated 5.0 cm deep reduced low and high vigor seedling height 36 and 28%, respectively. Imazaquin at all rates reduced root length from high vigor seed, whereas only the high rate reduced root length of seedlings from low vigor seed. Although 420 g ha-1 metribuzin did not affect seedling emergence or root length, emerged seedlings were severely damaged when herbicide was incorporated to 5.0 cm. Trifluralin at 840 and 1680 g ai ha-1 reduced emergence of low vigor seed when incorporated 5.0 cm deep. Trifluralin at 840 g ha-1 did not affect seedling height or root length, but 1680 g ha-1 reduced height of seedling from low and high vigor seed by 86 and 66% when incorporated 5.0 cm deep. Trifluralin at 1680 g ha-1 reduced shoot dry weight of both types of seedlings only at the 5.0-cm incorporation depth.

Various 3-yr rotation sequences of 97- and 18-cm row spacings, with appropriate sicklepod control treatments within each row spacing, were implemented to evaluate sicklepod population and soybean yield at two locations. Alachlor plus metribuzin applied preemergence followed by either a postemergence-directed spray of metribuzin plus 2,4-DB or hand hoeing in 97-cm rows consistently reduced sicklepod populations. Reductions with 97-cm rows and preemergence-applied herbicides coupled with cultivation were not as great. At one location, using a split application of metribuzin preplant incorporated followed by preemergence with 18-cm rows reduced sicklepod populations if effective control measures had been used in wide rows the previous year, but the narrow-row treatments did not reduce sicklepod numbers if 18-cm rows had been used previously. Soil-applied metribuzin was more effective under high soil pH conditions, and sicklepod populations were reduced substantially whether the previous row spacing was 18 or 97 cm. After the third year, all plots were planted in 97-cm rows with no herbicides. No differences were found among sicklepod populations with any previous row spacing or sicklepod control program, indicating that, even with 3 yr of effective control, subsequent sicklepod populations were not affected.

Field studies were conducted in 1985 and 1986 to evaluate the stability of reciprocal interference relationships between common cocklebur and soybean under high and low soil moisture conditions. A significant soil moisture differential was established with portable rain exclusion shelters. Well-watered and drought-stressed common cocklebur reduced soybean yield 29 and 12%, respectively. Drought-stressed common cocklebur interfered with soybean over a shorter distance and the magnitude of the effect at a given distance was reduced. The reduced common cocklebur interference in drier soils was attributed to both common cocklebur and soybean growth responses to moisture stress. First, moisture stress caused greater reductions in common cocklebur canopy diameter, stem diameter, node number, and plant height than in soybean. Second, the soybean yield potential was reduced by moisture stress. The reduction in yield potential decreased the effect of the weed interference. Third, soybean canopy development was slowed, and canopy closure that occurred in about 12 weeks in well-watered soybeans never occurred in the moisture-stressed soybeans. This reduced the degree of light interference between both the common cocklebur and soybean and among the soybean plants. The results of this study indicate that the reciprocal interference relationships between common cocklebur and soybean are not stable across soil moisture conditions. The implications of unstable competitive parameters must be considered as threshold models are developed for various field crops.