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Pottery is one of the earliest and most widespread of human activities, and its history can be traced back to the Stone Age. This comprehensive account begins with the earliest civilizations of the Near and Middle East and follows the production of pottery chronologically around the globe.

A dose-response trial was conducted in two experimental runs at the Purdue University Horticulture Greenhouses, West Lafayette, IN, in 2021/2022 to determine the effect of mesotrione rate on simulated dormant ‘Redefined Murray Mitcham’ peppermint. Peppermint was established in 20-cm-diam polyethylene pots, it was then harvested, and pots were placed in a cooler (4 C) for 1 mo. Potted peppermint plants were removed from cold storage and treated with one of five mesotrione rates: 0 (nontreated control), 53, 105, 210, or 420 g ai ha–1. As mesotrione rate increased from 53 to 420 g ai ha–1, predicted peppermint injury increased from 35% to 80% at 2 wk after treatment (WAT), 36% to 95% at 4 WAT, 9% to 82% at 6 WAT, and 8% to 90% at 8 WAT; and peppermint height decreased from 74% to 42% of the nontreated control (7 cm) 2 WAT, 74% to 17% of the nontreated control (20 cm) 4 WAT, 81% to 15% of the nontreated control (28 cm) 6 WAT, and 88% to 19% of the nontreated control (37 cm) 8 WAT. Mesotrione rates from 53 to 420 g ai ha–1 reduced peppermint dry weight from 40% to 99%, respectively. Results from this experiment showed that mesotrione applied even at half of the recommended field use rate for corn (53 g ai ha–1) was not safe for peppermint due to a reduction in aboveground biomass. Nomenclature: Mesotrione; peppermint, Mentha × piperita L. (pro sp.) aquatica × spicata ‘Redefined Murray Mitcham'

Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] is a staple crop that provides nutritional benefits to humans globally, but it is subject to yield loss when competing with weeds, especially during the early stage of establishment. Yield loss can vary widely based on the cultivar, production environment, weed species, and management techniques. To address this challenge, we conducted field research at the Samuel G. Meigs Horticulture Research Farm, Lafayette, IN, and at the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center, Vincennes, IN, in 2022 to determine the effect of sweetpotato cultivar on the critical weed-free period. The experiment was a split-plot design, with weed-free interval treatments as the main plot factor and cultivar as the subplot factor. The three cultivars used were ‘Covington’, ‘Monaco’, and ‘Murasaki’. Weeds were removed by hand and allowed to establish and compete with the crop beginning at 0, 14, 21, 28, 35, or 42 d after transplanting (DAP). As the weed-free interval increased from 0 to 42 DAP, predicted total yield increased from 19 kg ha–1 to 20,540 kg ha–1 for Covington, 3 kg ha–1 to 11,407 kg ha–1 for Monaco, and 125 kg ha–1 to 13,460 kg ha–1 for Murasaki at the Lafayette location. At Vincennes, as the weed-free interval increased from 0 to 42 DAP, predicted total yield increased from 14,664 kg ha–1 to 33,905 kg ha–1 for Covington, 4,817 kg ha–1 to 18,059 kg ha–1 for Monaco, and 12,735 kg ha–1 to 21,105 kg ha–1 for Murasaki. A threshold of ≤10% total yield reduction was achieved by maintaining sweetpotatoes weed-free 24 DAP for Covington, 20 DAP for Murasaki, and 33 DAP for Monaco.

Field studies were conducted on certified organic land in Lafayette and Vincennes, IN, in 2023 to determine the impact of different between-row weed control methods on weed suppression and sweetpotato yield. Between-row treatments consisted of organic buckwheat (108 kg ha–1) broadcast seeded immediately after sweetpotato transplanting followed by silage tarping from 3 wk after transplanting (WATr) through harvest, organic buckwheat (108 kg ha–1) broadcast seeded 3 WATr and terminated 7 WATr, and cultivation as a grower standard. Weed density at 6 WATr was 0, 184, and 162 plants m–2 for the silage tarping, living mulch buckwheat, and cultivation treatments, respectively. Total yield was 11,048 kg ha–1 for the living mulch buckwheat, 19,792 kg ha–1 for the cultivation, and 17,814 kg ha–1 for the tarping treatments. Tarping effectively suppressed weeds and produced sweetpotato yields comparable to cultivation, indicating the potential for use by organic growers. When buckwheat was grown between rows 3 to 7 WATr, sweetpotato yield was lower than it was with tarping and cultivation. These results suggest that researchers should be evaluating tarps for small-acreage farmers as a weed management strategy. Nomenclature: Buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum Moench; sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. ‘Covington'

Chemical weed control in pumpkin ( Cucurbita pepo ) often relies on herbicide applications made at planting, which results in weed escapes later in the growing season. The use of postemergence herbicides in row middles is useful, especially in no-till pumpkin production, but there are limited effective options. We conducted field research in 2023 at Wanatah and Lafayette, IN, USA, to evaluate ‘Bayhorse Gold’ pumpkin response to carfentrazone, glufosinate, and glyphosate applied to 10% of the vine tip 5 weeks after planting. A non-treated control was included for comparison. Pooled across both locations at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after treatment, glyphosate resulted in greater visible foliar injury (32%, 21%, and 9%, respectively) than carfentrazone (16%, 8%, and 5%, respectively) or glufosinate (13%, 8%, and 6%, respectively). Injury did not differ among the herbicide treatments at 6 weeks after treatment; crop injury was 9% for glyphosate, 7% for carfentrazone, and 6% for glufosinate. The nontreated control yielded 2420 orange pumpkins/acre weighing 48,016 lb/acre, which was statistically similar to plots treated with glyphosate (2766 pumpkins and 50,684 lb/acre), carfentrazone (2593 pumpkins and 50,303 lb/acre), and glufosinate (3111 pumpkins and 54,495 lb/acre). All treatments resulted in 346 green and 173 nonmarketable pumpkin fruit (<3.3 lb) per acre. Our results suggest that the herbicide glufosinate, which is not currently registered for use in pumpkins, offers crop safety similar to carfentrazone and greater crop safety than glyphosate, which are both currently registered for use between pumpkin rows. Despite differences in visible crop injury, no herbicide treatment resulted in decreased pumpkin yield.

Currently, there are no herbicides registered that provide acceptable control of glyphosate-resistant marestail in no-till and reduced-till pumpkin production systems. Field research was conducted in 2023 and 2024 at Lafayette, IN, USA, to evaluate ‘Bayhorse Gold’ pumpkin and marestail response to glufosinate alone, glyphosate alone, and glyphosate tank-mixed with carfentrazone, saflufenacil, or tiafenacil applied 1 week before planting into a roller-crimped cereal rye cover crop. A nontreated control was included for comparison. No visual crop injury was observed in either year. Marestail densities were low in 2023 and averaged 1.5 plants/20 m 2 at 2 weeks after planting (WAP) in the nontreated control and 0 plants/20 m 2 in all other treatments. At 2 WAP in 2024, marestail was more abundant, averaging 44.7 plants/35 m 2 in the nontreated control, which was similar to the density observed with glyphosate alone (23.6 plants/35 m 2 plot). The greatest reduction in marestail density occurred with glufosinate alone and glyphosate plus saflufenacil (0.2 plants/35 m 2 ). Glyphosate plus tiafenacil (12.7 plants/35 m 2 ) and glyphosate plus carfentrazone (15.5 plants/35 m 2 ) exhibited reduced marestail density compared with the nontreated control but did not differ from glyphosate alone. In 2024, orange pumpkin fruit number was greater with glyphosate plus saflufenacil than with glyphosate plus tiafenacil. No other differences were observed for the pumpkin yield parameters measured in this study. Glufosinate and glyphosate plus saflufenacil demonstrated excellent marestail control and crop tolerance, suggesting that their registration would be beneficial to no-till and reduced-till pumpkin farmers who cannot sufficiently control marestail with currently registered herbicide options, such as glyphosate alone or combined with carfentrazone.

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is a staple crop that provides nutritional benefits to humans globally, but it is subjected to yield loss when competing with weeds, especially during the early stage of establishment. Despite increased organic sweetpotato production in the United States, growers face challenges with limited weed management options and often resort to time-consuming and costly cultivation and hand-weeding. To address this challenge, experiments were developed to determine the effect of sweetpotato cultivar on the critical weed-free period, the effects of in-row plant spacing and cultivar selection on weed suppression and sweetpotato yield, and the impact of buckwheat and silage tarps for row-middle weed control. 1) In 2022, field research was conducted at the Samuel G. Meigs Horticulture Research Farm (Meigs), Lafayette, IN, and at the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center (SWPAC), Vincennes, IN to estimate the critical weed-free period for ‘Covington’, ‘Murasaki’, and ‘Monaco’ in the Midwest. The experiment was a split-plot design, with weed-free interval treatments as the main plot factor and cultivar as the subplot factor. Weeds were removed by hand and allowed to establish and compete with the crop beginning at 0, 14, 21, 28, 35, or 42 days after transplanting (DAP). As weed-free interval increased from 0 to 42 DAP, predicted total yield increased from 19 kg ha -1 to 20,540 kg ha -1 for Covington, 3 kg ha -1 to 11,407 kg ha -1 for Monaco, and 125 kg ha -1 to 13,460 kg ha -1 for Murasaki at the Lafayette location. A threshold of ≤10% total yield reduction was achieved by maintaining sweetpotatoes weed-free 24 DAP for Covington, 20 DAP for Murasaki, and 33 DAP for Monaco. 2) In 2022 and 2023, studies were conducted at Meigs, Lafayette, IN and SWPAC, Vincennes, IN to evaluate in-row plant spacing and cultivars for weed control and sweetpotato yield. The experiment was a split-split plot design, with in-row spacings of 20, 30, and 40 cm as the main plot factor, weeding frequency (‘critical weed-free period’ and ‘weed free’) as the subplot factor, and sweetpotato cultivar (‘Covington’ and ‘Monaco’) as the sub-subplot factor. However, in 2022, we evaluated only in-row spacing and weeding frequency because of poor establishment of Monaco. In-row spacing had no significant effect on weed densities at 4, 5, and 6 WAP. As in-row spacing increased from 20 to 40 cm, total sweetpotato yield pooled across both locations in 2023 decreased from 30,223 to 21,209 kg ha -1 for Covington and 24,370 to 20,848 kg ha -1for Monaco, however, jumbo yield increased for both cultivars. Findings from this study suggest that an in-row spacing of 20 cm may provide greater yield than the standard spacing, 30 cm, for both Monaco and Covington cultivars and could reduce weed interference through more rapid sweetpotato canopy closure. 3) The experiment was a randomized complete block design, with three row-middle treatments [tarp, buckwheat, and cultivation] and four replicates. Row-middle treatments were established immediately after transplanting ‘Covington’ slips 30 cm apart into raised bed plots consisting of a single row 6 m long and 2 m apart on-center.

Organic sweetpotato growers have limited effective weed management options, and most rely on in-season between-row cultivation and hand weeding, which are time consuming, are costly, and deteriorate soil quality. Studies were conducted at the Samuel G. Meigs Horticulture Research Farm, Lafayette, IN, and at the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center, Vincennes, IN, in 2022 and 2023 to determine the effects of in-row plant spacing and cultivar selection on weed suppression and organic sweetpotato yield. The experiment was a split-split plot design, with in-row spacings of 20, 30, and 40 cm as the main plot factor, weeding frequency (critical weed-free period and weed-free) as the subplot factor, and sweetpotato cultivar (‘Covington' and ‘Monaco') as the sub-subplot factor. However, in 2022, we evaluated only in-row spacing and weeding frequency because of the poor establishment of ‘Monaco’. In 2023, sweetpotato canopy at 5 wk after transplanting (WAP) decreased as in-row spacing increased from 20 to 40 cm, and sweetpotato canopy cover of ‘Monaco’ (62%) was greater than that of ‘Covington’ (44%). In-row spacing did not affect weed density at 4, 5, and 6 WAP. As in-row spacing increased from 20 to 40 cm, total sweetpotato yield pooled across both locations in 2023 decreased from 30,223 to 21,209 kg ha–1 for ‘Covington’ and from 24,370 to 20,848 kg ha–1 for ‘Monaco’; however, jumbo yield increased for both cultivars. Findings from this study suggest that an in-row spacing of 20 cm may provide greater yield than the standard spacing of 30 cm for both ‘Monaco’ and ‘Covington’. Nomenclature: Sweetpotato; Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. ‘Covington’; ‘Monaco’

Few published studies exist documenting banana pepper tolerance to clomazone. Therefore, field trials were conducted in 2022 at two Indiana locations [Meigs Horticulture Research Farm and the Pinney Purdue Agricultural Center (PPAC)] to evaluate crop safety in plasticulture-grown banana pepper. The experimental design was a split-plot in which the main plot factor was the clomazone rate (0, 840, and 1,680 g ai ha–1) and the subplot factor was cultivar (‘Pageant’ and ‘Sweet Sunset’). Clomazone was applied over the top of black polyethylene mulch-covered raised beds and their respective bare-ground row middles 1 d prior to transplanting 12 pepper plants per subplot. Data collected included crop injury on a scale from 0% (no injury) to 100% (crop death) at 2, 4, and 6 wk after treatment (WAT), and plant stand. Two harvests were performed in which mature fruits were counted and weighed. Injury presented as interveinal bleaching only at PPAC 2 and 4 WAT. At this location 1,680 g ha–1 clomazone resulted in greater injury to ‘Sweet Sunset’ at 2 and 4 WAT (53% and 15%, respectively) than to ‘Pageant’ (19% and 3%, respectively); however, plant stand and yield were not affected by either clomazone rate. These results suggest that the clomazone rate range currently used for bell pepper (280 to 1,120 g ai ha–1) can be applied prior to transplanting plasticulture-grown banana pepper with minimal crop injury and without reducing yield. Nomenclature: Clomazone; banana pepper ‘Pageant’ and ‘Sweet Sunset’, Capsicum annuum L.