Have Perennial Broadleaf Issues?
Mike Basedow, Tree Fruit Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
While it is probably difficult to think about the post-harvest season at this time of year, I want to share a perennial weed management strategy now so you have time to plan accordingly in case you would like to implement it on some of your blocks this fall.
This strategy was explained to me by David Bittner of Bittner-Singer Orchards, and entails a post-harvest 2,4-D and clopyralid (Stinger) application, applied across the entire orchard floor "from tree to tree". The idea here is to hit both the herbicide strip and the row middle in a single pass, removing as many broadleaves from the strip and row middle as you can, while leaving your orchard sod intact. He has found from personal experience that treating against these weeds in the herbicide strip alone doesn't do the job, as they'll still persist in the row middle, and simply creep back into the strip.
Have Perennial Broadleaf Issues? (pdf; 1196KB)
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