Experiments were conducted to determine the influence of soybean row width and glyphosate application timing on survival, biomass production, and fecundity of three sicklepod cohorts along with soybean seed yield. The first cohort comprised sicklepod plants that emerged from soybean planting through the V3 stage of soybean (two fully developed trifoliate leaves plus the unifoliate leaves; cohort 1). The second cohort comprised plants that emerged between the V3 to V6 stages of soybean (five fully developed trifoliate leaves plus the unifoliate leaves; cohort 2), and the third cohort emerged after the V6 stage through the R2 stage of soybean (full bloom; cohort 3). Glyphosate was applied at V3; V6; V3 and V6; and V3, V6, and R2 in rows 19 and 97 cm wide, and a nontreated control was included for comparison in each row width. Survival of cohort 1 in 2004 in glyphosate-treated plots occurred only after a single glyphosate application at V3 or V6 in wide rows. Narrowing the soybean row width reduced sicklepod survival throughout the growing season, even without glyphosate. Total biomass production from all cohorts averaged over years was 1,602 g m−2 in wide rows compared with 648 g m−2 in narrow rows. Cohort 1 accounted for 70 and 77% of the total sicklepod biomass in wide and narrow rows, respectively. Cohort 2 contributed 29% of the total sicklepod biomass in wide rows and 22% in narrow rows. Cohort 3 produced minimal biomass, contributing no more than 1% of the total sicklepod biomass. Sicklepod emerging after V6 failed to produce seed in 2004, and no sicklepod seed were produced in 2005 by plants emerging after V3. Averaged over years, sicklepod from cohort 1 in nontreated controls produced 3,695 seed m−2 in narrow rows compared with 6,685 seed m−2 in wide rows. Nontreated sicklepod from cohort 2 in 2004 produced 510 seed m−2 in narrow rows compared with 1,640 seed m−2 in wide rows. Soybean yields were similar among all glyphosate applications averaged over years and row widths, ranging from 3,340 to 3,700 kg ha−1 compared with 1,290 kg ha−1 without glyphosate (61 to 65% yield loss).
Nomenclature: Glyphosate, sicklepod, Senna obtusifolia (L.) Irwin and Barneby CASOB, soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr
