As a dedicated UC IPM Advisor, I took today as a working non-furlough day on a holiday. Does that sense? Today I was evaluating a herbicide trial for preemergence bittercress control and starting a new one to look at postemergence bitercress control. These projects are sponsored by the USDA IR-4 program (http://ir4.rutgers.edu/) a program with helps suport pesticide registrations in minor crops. By minor, they mean just about anything that is not corn, soybean, wheat, and rice. The request for testing can come from YOU (http://ir4.rutgers.edu/ornamental/OrnRequestForm.cfm). So if you have an idea about something you think has good potential for your crop put it here. Often pesticides that have shown good activity working in another crop where it is labled will also work on the ornametal species but efficacy and phtotoxicity trials need to be run to be sure.
Also, if you want a chart of herbicides that you can use for common nursery weeds, I have one posted. Go to http://cesandiego.ucdavis.edu/files/67580.doc. If you run your own tests, feel free to modify it. I'd be interested to know how your tests turn out and we can fill in some blanks on the chart.
Have a safe and happy 4th of July!