Nurseries Learning from the Turf Industry

摘要

Many chemicals and other specialist products are widely used in the turf industry. Many of these can have major benefits for the nursery industry, but only if they are ultimately registered or trialled in the growing of plants. Ronstar~R (oxadiazon) is one such chemical that has a dual use in the turf and nursery industries. A new product for use on turf in Australia, sold under the brand name of Barricade~R with the active ingredient prodiamine has been used for some time in the USA both on turf andin the nursery industry for growing plants in pots. This pre-emergent has only been registered for use as a turf pre-emergent in Australia, but in the USA it is a major chemical used to stop or reduce weed germination in many pot grown nursery crops inthe USA. Many use it in the USA due to its lack of adverse effects on pot grown plants, and its ability to greatly reduce weed infestation. In Australia, most nurseries appear to use Rout~R and Ronstar. Although good for weed control, I have witnessed firsthand many times the adverse effects on certain crops, particularly strappy leaf plants. Rout seems to be better suited to woody plants, such as trees. The other problem with these chemicals is they have to be applied in granular form. Often spraying over the top is more efficient, and the use of a chemical such as Barricade could greatly reduce costs for Australian nurseries. With the help of Syngenta, Ozbreed has for a 12 month period tested this chemical on a number of popular Australian nursery grown plants. As Ozbreed has these plants in the USA, where the chemical is registered, it was easy to test these plants. Barricade is widely used by nurseries growing Ozbreed plants in the USA. Indications are that this chemical has the potential to greatly reduce hand weeding in nurseries. Ozbreed also took cuttings and divisions of plants that had the chemical applied 3 months prior, and monitored the effect. Ozbreed also conducted limited testing on two brands of oryzalin, namely Prolan~(TM) and Embargo~R. Both these have some registered use allowable on ornamentals.