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Abstract
Palmer amaranth is the most impactful weedy pest in the history of Georgia agriculture. In cotton, it not only competes for light, space, water, nutrients, and pollination insects, but also harbors the tarnished plant bug which further damages the crop. New auxin-based technologies are commercialized for improved Palmer amaranth control, but associated herbicides pose significant off-target drift concerns. Glufosinate-based programs pose less drift concerns and offer an effective alternative in controlling Palmer amaranth, but only when maximizing the program’s effectiveness through sequential glufosinate applications spaced 1 to 7 days apart, as influenced by weed size at time of initial application. Glufosinate also may offer vegetable growers a new tool to manage weeds at planting if research determines crops are tolerant to residual activity and manufactures support labeling. Seeded cucumber were tolerant to glufosinate applied after planting while transplant cucumber were not tolerant to applications made the week prior to transplanting.