Handheld Flame Cultivators as a Management Option for Woody Weeds

Abstract

<jats:p>Dewberry is a weed found on cranberry bogs that spreads quickly, causes high yield loss, and has no effective management strategy. Finding options to manage damaging perennial weeds in a perennial crop system, such as cranberry, is key to long-term industry sustainability. This study presents preliminary data on the use of flame cultivation (FC) in cranberry weed management. Utilizing weeds transplanted from commercial cranberry farms to a prepared area at the UMass Cranberry Station, we evaluated three handheld propane-fueled FC instruments: infrared torch, open flame torch, and an infrared torch with a spike. A single, midsummer exposure (zero, low, medium, or high duration) with each FC was tested. The industry standard of using a single wipe application of an herbicide solution (111 g L<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>ae glyphosate, isopropylamine salt) was also included in the evaluation. Dewberry shoot, root, and total biomass decreased linearly as exposure increased; the effect of FC tool type was not significant. Data indicated that, regardless of the specific torch utilized, spot treatment with FC reduced dewberry biomass. The results of this exploratory study suggest that FC may offer an alternative technique for managing woody weeds and that further research is warranted.</jats:p>

Damage and Recovery of Cranberry Vines from Exposure to Handheld Flame Cultivators

“…Flame cultivation has been demonstrated to be effective at controlling some weed species found in cranberry such as dewberry (Rubus spp.) and rushes (Juncus effusus) All torches were equally effective at controlling dewberry, whereas the IRS was less effective than the IR and OF at controlling rushes (Ghantous et al, 2011(Ghantous et al, , 2012. Although there were minor response differences between the cranberry varieties tested, all showed recovery from FC damage irrespective of which FC tool was used or duration of exposure.…”

“…Exposure duration levels were none, low, medium, and high durations (0, 3, 6, and 9 s, respectively, for OF and 0, 15, 30, and 45 s, respectively, for IR and IRS). Timings were selected based on those used in a previous study (Ghantous et al, 2012) and are of equal intervals to allow comparisons between the torches. A glyphosate wipe was included as a treated control to represent the current practice for managing woody perennial weeds in cranberry (Sandler, 2011b).…”

“…A greenhouse study was conducted to measure cranberry response to FC in the absence of the naturally occurring variations found on cranberry farms. This study was performed in conjunction with a series of experiments testing three types of handheld propane torches (one open flame and two styles of IR) and varying exposure times on several species of perennial weeds (Ghantous et al, 2011(Ghantous et al, , 2012. We hypothesized that 1) FC will cause damage to cranberry plants and that damage will increase with increasing exposure duration and vary by flame cultivator tool used; 2) cranberry plants will recover from FC treatment effect and recovery will vary with exposure duration and flame cultivator tool used; and 3) that there would be no difference in varietal response.…”