Interaction between glyphosate and various herbicides for broadleaved weed control

The effects of several herbicides for broadleaved weed control on glyphosate (n-phosphonomethyl glycine) phytotoxicity to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and wild oats (Avena fatua L.) were studied in the greenhouse. In tank mixtures, dicamba (3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid), 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid) and bromoxynil (3,5-dibromo-4-hydroxy benzonitrile) reduced the phytotoxicity of threshold rates of glyphosate on all three species. With increasing rates of the herbicides for broadleaved weed control relative to a fixed rate of glyphosate, there was a general trend towards increased antagonism. Increasing glyphosate rates above the threshold level in mixtures containing a fixed rate of herbicides for broadleaved weed control overcame the antagonism. Both the inert and active ingredients of 2,4-D amine and ester appeared to be involved in the antagonism. There was no reduction in glyphosate phytotoxicity on the annual grasses when 2,4-D or bromoxynil were sprayed sequentially at various times in relation to glyphosate. When droplets of bromoxynil and glyphosate were placed side by side on a leaf, glyphosate phytotoxicity was not reduced, whereas when the two herbicides were mixed and applied as one droplet, considerable reduction in glyphosate phytotoxicity occurred. These results suggest that the reduction in glyphosate phytotoxicity caused by tank mixing with herbicides such as 2,4-D, bromoxynil and dicamba may be due to a physical or chemical incompatability within the tank mixture rather than to a biological interaction in the plant.