Horticulture Commons^™

Abrasive Weeding As A Vehicle For Precision Fertilizer Management In Organic Vegetable Production, Tran Kim Ngan Luong, Frank Forcella, Sharon A. Clay, Michael S. Douglass, Sam E. Wortman

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Abrasive weeding is a nonchemical weed control tactic that uses small, gritty materials propelled with compressed air to destroy weed seedlings. Organic fertilizers have been used successfully as abrasive grits to control weeds, but the goal for this study was to explore the effects of fertilizer grit, application rates, and background soil fertility on weeds, plant available nitrogen (N) uptake, and crop yield. Field trials were conducted in organic ‘Carmen’ sweet red pepper (Capsicum annuum) and organic ‘Gypsy’ broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) and treatments included organic fertilizer grit (8N–0.9P–3.3K vs. 3N–3.1P–3.3K), grit application rates (low …