An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical location, and may not correspond to the four traditional seasonal divisions of the year. With respect to the traditional seasons annual plants are generally categorized into summer annuals and winter annuals. Summer annuals germinate during spring or early summer and mature by autumn of the same year. Winter annuals germinate during the autumn and mature during the spring or summer of the following calendar year.
Herbicides, also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control unwanted plants. Selective herbicides control specific weed species, while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed, while non-selective herbicides can be used to clear waste ground, industrial and construction sites, railways and railway embankments as they kill all plant material with which they come into contact. Apart from selective/non-selective, other important distinctions include persistence, means of uptake, and mechanism of action. Historically, products such as common salt and other metal salts were used as herbicides, however these have gradually fallen out of favor and in some countries a number of these are banned due to their persistence in soil, and toxicity and groundwater contamination concerns. Herbicides have also been used in warfare and conflict.
Weed control is the botanical component of pest control, which attempts to stop weeds, especially noxious weeds, from competing with desired flora and fauna including domesticated plants and livestock, and in natural settings preventing non native species competing with native species.
A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil, reducing weed growth and enhancing the visual appeal of the area.
Matricaria chamomilla, commonly known as chamomile, German chamomile, Hungarian chamomile (kamilla), wild chamomile, blue chamomile, scented mayweed, is an annual plant of the composite family Asteraceae. Commonly, the name M. recutita is applied to the most popular source of the herbal product chamomile, although other species are also used as chamomile. Chamomile is known mostly for its use against gastrointestinal problems; additionally it can be used to treat irritation of the skin.
Tribulus terrestris is an annual plant in the caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae) widely distributed around the world. It is adapted to grow in dry climate locations in which few other plants can survive. It is native to warm temperate and tropical regions in southern Eurasia and Africa. It has been unintentionally introduced to North America and Australia. An aggressive and hardy invasive species, T. terrestris is widely known as a noxious weed because of its small woody fruit – the bur – having long sharp and strong spines which easily penetrate surfaces such as the bare feet or thin shoes of crop workers and other pedestrians, the rubber of bicycle tires, and the mouths and skin of grazing animals.
Digitaria is a genus of plants in the grass family native to tropical and warm temperate regions but can occur in tropical, subtropical, and cooler temperate regions as well. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio. They are slender monocotyledonous annual and perennial lawn, pasture, and forage plants; some are often considered lawn pests. Digitus is the Latin word for "finger", and they are distinguished by the long, finger-like inflorescences they produce.
Polygonum arenastrum, commonly known as equal-leaved knotgrass, is a summer annual flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae. Other common names include common knotweed, prostrate knotweed, mat grass, oval-leaf knotweed, stone grass, wiregrass, and door weed, as well as many others. It is native to Europe and can be found on other continents as an introduced species and a common noxious weed. Knotweed was first seen in North America in 1809 and is now seen across much of the United States and Canada.
Abutilon theophrasti is an annual plant in the family Malvaceae, native to southern Asia. Its specific epithet theophrasti commemorates the ancient Greek botanist-philosopher Theophrastus. Abutilon theophrasti is the type species of the genus Abutilon.
Soliva sessilis, one of up to nine species of the genus Soliva, is a low-growing herbaceous annual plant. Its common names include field burrweed, Onehunga-weed, lawn burrweed, lawnweed, and common soliva. It is one of several plants known as bindi weed, bindii, or bindi-eye.
Corn gluten meal is the principal protein of corn (maize) endosperm consisting mainly of zein and glutelin. It is a byproduct of corn processing that has historically been used as an animal feed. Despite the name, corn gluten does not contain true gluten, which is formed by the interaction of gliadin and glutenin proteins.
Eleusine indica, the Indian goosegrass, yard-grass, goosegrass, wiregrass, or crowfootgrass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is a small annual grass distributed throughout the warmer areas of the world to about 50 degrees latitude. It is an invasive species in some areas.
Digitaria sanguinalis is a species of grass known by several common names, including hairy crabgrass, hairy finger-grass, large crabgrass, crab finger grass, purple crabgrass. It is one of the better-known species of the genus Digitaria, and one that is known nearly worldwide as a common weed. It is used as animal fodder, and the seeds are edible and have been used as a grain in Germany and especially Poland, where it is sometimes cultivated. This has earned it the name Polish millet.
Pesticide application refers to the practical way in which pesticides are delivered to their biological targets. Public concern about the use of pesticides has highlighted the need to make this process as efficient as possible, in order to minimise their release into the environment and human exposure. The practice of pest management by the rational application of pesticides is supremely multi-disciplinary, combining many aspects of biology and chemistry with: agronomy, engineering, meteorology, socio-economics and public health, together with newer disciplines such as biotechnology and information science.
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place". Examples commonly are plants unwanted in human-controlled settings, such as farm fields, gardens, lawns, and parks. Taxonomically, the term "weed" has no botanical significance, because a plant that is a weed in one context is not a weed when growing in a situation where it is in fact wanted, and where one species of plant is a valuable crop plant, another species in the same genus might be a serious weed, such as a wild bramble growing among cultivated loganberries. In the same way, volunteer crops (plants) are regarded as weeds in a subsequent crop. Many plants that people widely regard as weeds also are intentionally grown in gardens and other cultivated settings, in which case they are sometimes called beneficial weeds. The term weed also is applied to any plant that grows or reproduces aggressively, or is invasive outside its native habitat. More broadly "weed" occasionally is applied pejoratively to species outside the plant kingdom, species that can survive in diverse environments and reproduce quickly; in this sense it has even been applied to humans.
Bensulide is a selective organophosphate herbicide. It is one of a few organophosphate compounds that are used as an herbicide. Most of the others are used as insecticides. It is used on vegetable crops such as carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and melons and in cotton and turfgrass to control annual grasses such as bluegrass and crabgrass and broadleaf weeds. It is often applied before the weed seeds germinate (pre-emergence) in order to prevent them from germinating. It is available as granules or an emulsifiable concentrate. Estimates place the total use of bensulide in the United States at about 632,000 pounds annually. Application rates may be relatively heavy when it is used. The EPA classifies bensulide as a general use pesticide.
Taeniatherum is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the grass family known by the common name medusahead.
Striga hermonthica, commonly known as purple witchweed or giant witchweed, is a hemiparasitic plant that belongs to the family Orobanchaceae. It is devastating to major crops such as sorghum and rice. In sub-Saharan Africa, apart from sorghum and rice, it also infests maize, pearl millet, and sugar cane.
AC Hazlet rye is a fall rye variety that was developed by Canadian breeder Dr. Grant Macleod of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. AC Hazlet rye is a medium-sized fall rye variety that is produced and distributed through SeCan, and is then grown in Canada
Broadleaf weeds are unwanted tough plants that may grow in lawns, gardens or yards. They can be easy to spot when growing among grasses. They multiply with ease and can be very hard to eradicate.
