Evaluating Dominus® Soil Biofumigant as a Substitute for Methyl Bromide in Pacific Northwest Forest Nurseries
Dominus® is a new soil biofumigant that is registered for use in bareroot forest nurseries with minimal buffer zone requirements. The active ingredient is allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), a compound found in certain mustard family plants (Brassicaceae). Washington Department of Natural Resources Webster Nursery (Tumwater, WA) tested five treatments applied in September 2015: (1) Dominus® alone; (2) Dominus® plus chloropicrin; (3) chloropicrin alone; (4) an operational control of methyl bromide plus chloropicrin; and (5) a nontreated control. All treatments were immediately tarped with totally impermeable film (TIF). In May 2016, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) seedlings were transplanted into the treatment plots. Height and stem diameter differences throughout the trial were minimal and nonsignificant among treatments. Dominus®, with or without chlo- ropicrin, significantly lowered soil Fusarium populations one month after treatment to levels similar to the standard methyl bromide plus chloropicrin fumigation. All fumigation treatments maintained lower soil and root Fusarium populations than the nontreated control through the trial. Dominus® reduced initial (winter) weed presence similarly to the operational standard, but low weed pressure during the growing season limited meaningful evaluation of the fumigant treatments’ herbicidal effects. This paper was presented at the joint annual meeting of the Western Forest and Conservation Nursery Association and the Intermountain Container Seedling Growers’ Association (Troutdale, OR, September 14–15, 2016).
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Author(s): Nabil Khadduri, Anna Leon, John Browning, Amy Salamone
Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 60, Number 2 (2017)
Event:
Joint Annual Meeting of the Western Forest and Conservation Nursery Association and the Intermountain Container Seedling Growers Association
2016 - Troutdale, Oregon
Volume: 60
Number: 2