Abstract: Experiments were conducted to determine whether antagonism between atrazine and glyphosate on shattercane observed in field studies could be duplicated under greenhouse conditions on ‘Rox Orange’ forage sorghum and whether it could be overcome by the addition of ammonium sulfate, other adjuvants, or additional glyphosate. Atrazine or surfactant added to glyphosate did not significantly affect sorghum dry weights compared to glyphosate alone. The Colby equation for synergism indicated that atrazine did not antagonize sorghum control with glyphosate in the greenhouse. Glyphosate at 0.43 kg ae/ha plus ammonium sulfate provided greater control of sorghum than glyphosate at 0.43 kg/ha without ammonium sulfate; however, glyphosate at 0.84 kg/ha plus ammonium sulfate did not provide greater control of sorghum than glyphosate at 0.84 kg/ha without ammonium sulfate. Reduced activity of glyphosate at 0.43 kg/ha in the absence of ammonium sulfate was likely due to an abundance of calcium cations in the carrier water that associated with glyphosate molecules and subsequently reduced herbicide uptake by plants. Thus, antagonism observed under cool conditions in field studies was not evident in controlled-temperature greenhouse studies.
Nomenclature: Atrazine, 6-chloro-N-ethyl-N′-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine; glyphosate, N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine; ‘Rox Orange’ sorghum and shattercane, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench #3 SORVU.
Additional index words: Antagonism, surfactant.
