Date of Award

4-2-2020

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Robert Zdor

Abstract

The use of mustard seed meal (MSM) as a biofumigant in managing weeds in agricultural settings has been well documented. Previous work with MSM has shown that soils with a higher sand content were better at weed suppression than soils with lower amounts of sand. It was hypothesized that the elevated sand content created more air space for volatile inhibitory compounds to diffuse and inhibit seed germination and growth. Although initial results from bioassays systematically testing the comparison of 5 differing levels of sand showed support for this hypothesis, further testing with micron-sized glass beads showed that loss of airspace did not reduce the effectiveness of MSM in suppressing velvetleaf.

Subject Area

Weeds--Control; Mustard--Seeds; Biofumigation; Velvetleaf--Biological control

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/honors/229/

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