Weeds Pages
Most celery-growing regions have only annual broadleaves and grass weeds. Current weed management tools are effective at controlling most of these weeds.
LITTLE MALLOW AND MUSTARDS
Control little mallow with postemergence applications of linuron and prometryn. It is difficult to control if allowed to get too large (5 to 6 leaves). Larger plants will be partially suppressed, but not completely controlled. Similarly, large mustard plants that have transitioned from rosette to bolting may escape complete control with these herbicides.
YELLOW NUTSEDGE
This weed is typically not a problem during the cool winter months when the rate of shoot germination from tubers is low. Field selection, crop rotation, or mechanical methods can keep it under control. However, during spring, summer, and early fall, yellow nutsedge germinates rapidly and will compete with the crop. If planting is suboptimal and soil-borne pathogens delay celery growth, nutsedge will have an advantage competing for resources.
Preplant applications of S-metolachlor to celery beds controls low to moderate nutsedge infestations. Linuron applied after planting provides some postemergence suppression of nutsedge. The rapid canopy development of healthy and well-managed celery can effectively diminish light penetration to nutsedge shoots, thereby reducing the weed’s potential for reproduction.
Only the highest label rate of S-metolachlor is effective against heavy nutsedge densities (3 to 4 shoots per square foot) but may cause some crop injury. Thus, S-metolachlor should not be relied upon as a sole management option in fields heavily infested with yellow nutsedge.