Selectivity of herbicide oxadiazon to processing tomato and control of American black nightshade plants

Abstract

American black nightshade (Solanum americanum) is one of the main weeds for tomato crops. However, no herbicide approved for this crop in Brazil is effective for the control of this species and selective to tomato plants. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the selectivity of the herbicide oxadiazon to plants of three processing tomato hybrids and the control of American black nightshade plants. Four trials were installed: one under greenhouse and three under field conditions. The greenhouse trial was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications, using a 2x5 factorial arrangement consisting of preemergence and postemergence applications of five oxadiazon rates (75, 125, 250, 375, and 500 g ha-1) to control American black nightshade plants, and two control treatments without herbicide application. The field trials were conducted in a randomized blocks design with four replications on commercial production areas in the municipality of Cristalina-GO, Brazil. The tomato hybrids tested were Acangata 9992, H-9553, and HMX 7885, one in each trial. The treatments consisted of application of five oxadiazon rates (125, 250, 375, 500, and 625 g ha-1) at pre-planting of the tomato seedlings, and a control treatment without herbicide application. The application of oxadiazon in preemergence, in the greenhouse, was more efficient for controlling American black nightshade plants under greenhouse conditions than the application on plants with 2-3 leaves. However, the weed control was satisfactory (>90%) when rates up to 246 g ha-1 were used, in both application times. The herbicide application caused no visual injuries to tomato plants under field conditions, and had no negative effect on fruit yield. Therefore, the herbicide oxadiazon was highly selective to the three processing tomato hybrids when applied at pre-planting, using rates of up to 625 g ha-1. The herbicide presented excellent control of American black nightshade plants, using rates from 125 to 371 g ha-1.