Thomas G. Barnes
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 2:30-3:00
Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), a woody vine introduced from Asia in 1806 has been widely planted throughout the entire southern and northeastern United States for wildlife forage and other uses and has escaped becoming a major problem in natural areas. Control using herbicides may be the most effective control method but herbicides that will control honeysuckle will kill other broadleaf plants. The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the efficacy of using herbicides to control Japanese honeysuckle during the dormant season. Results of two separate studies, one using high rates of six different herbicides and another using label rate of three herbicides with a new surfactant, Pentrabark® will be discussed. Study one, initiated in 2004, evaluated the use of Glyphosate 8 qt/ac, glyphosate 4 qt/ac with 1 pt/ac imazapyr, imazapyr 1 qt/ac, glyphosate 1 qt/ac and imazapic 12 oz/ac, triclopyr 1 pt/ac and diflufenzopyr 4 oz/ac and metsulfuron 4 oz/ac and difluefenzopyr 4 oz/ac. Study two, initiated in 2008, evaluated three herbicide treatments (glyphosate 2 qt/ac, triclopyr 16 oz/ac, imazapyr 16 oz/ac) with 2% Pentrabark added as a surfactant in addition to three Pentrabark® treatments (2, 4 and 8% solution). The results of study one found there was no difference in control as a result of application timing but there was a difference in herbicide efficacy. The glpyhosate, imazapyr and metsulfuron plus diflufenzopyr treatmented plots had less than 5% honeysuckle at the end of the second growing season. At the end of the first growing season in study two, the glyphosate and imazapyr treatments had less than 4% honeysuckle. The results of these experiments indicate herbicides can be used during the dormant season to effectively control Japanese honeysuckle with minimal impact to existing plants and the use of Pentrabark® as a surfactant reduces the amount of herbicide required for effective control.
Keywords: LONICERA JAPONICA, HERBICIDES, PENTRABARK®