Weed control in lampascione e Muscari comosum (L.) Mill A. Bonasia * , G. Conversa, C. Lazzizera, P. La Rotonda, A. Elia Department of Agro-Environmental Science, Chemistry and Plant Protection, University of Foggia, via Napoli 25, 71100 Foggia, Italy article info Article history: Received 6 December 2010 Received in revised form 1 February 2012 Accepted 3 February 2012 Keywords: Chlorthal-dimethyl Chlorpropham Oxyfluorfen Ioxynil Pendimethalin Chloridazon Flazasulfuron Oxadiazon abstract Weed management studies in lampascione e Muscari comosum (L.) Mill e a bulb crop, were carried out in the Apulia Region (southern Italy) in 2007e2008 and 2008e2009, using various pre- and post- emergence herbicides. Herbicide treatments were compared with hand-weeded and unweeded controls. Weed control and crop injury index, yield, morphology and dry matter content of bulbs were recorded. The most dominant weed species were Veronica hederifolia L., Lamium purpureum L., and Stellaria media (L.) Vill. Manual weeding gave the highest yield (11.3 t/ha, on average), that was 31% higher compared to the unweeded control. During winter and until four months after planting, both pre-emergence herbicides were effective in keeping soil free from weeds, without negative effects on the sprouting or growth of lampascione bulbs. Among the tested post-emergence active ingredients, Oxyfluorfen, Oxadiazon, and Ioxynil- Pendimethalin and Oxyfluorfen þ Pendimethalin mixtures showed a low selectivity toward the crop. Despite a good weed control with a low level of crop injury, Ionyxil produced also negative effects on bulb dry matter. Pendimethalin and Chloridazon were variable in their effect and they did not provide clear results either in terms of phyto-toxicity or weed control, therefore they should be further inves- tigated. Flazasulfuron always resulted in very low crop injury (14%, on average) and adequate weed control (56%, on average), while maintaining a 14% higher mean yield compared to the unweeded control and similar to the weed-free control. Since the lampascione crop has a long cycle from winter to early summer, we suggest that a combi- nation of a pre-emergence herbicide (Chlorthal-dimethyl or Chlorpropham) in winter, followed by a post-emergence Flazasulfuron application at 100 g a.i./ha in early spring, should allow the best weed control without any negative effects on bulb yield. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Muscari comosum (L.) Mill, formerly classified in the Liliaceae Family, has been recently included in the Hyacinthaceae Family, according to (APG, 2003). It is a wild species that grows in a hot and arid climate in Southern Europe, Northern Africa and Western Asia (Bianco et al., 2009). It is a herbaceous perennial plant thanks to the formation of a globose to ovate bulb with reddish to pinkish outer tunics (skin- like coverings protecting the fleshy scales). In Southern Europe, seed germination occurs in November/ December, with optimum temperature near 10  C(Doussi and Thanos, 2002). After the first season of vegetative growth, a small bulb (below 1 cm in diameter) is produced as the foliage senesces in summer. Three to four true leaves (20e60 cm long) are produced from this bulb in the following year during the fall-winter-spring period, allowing a progressive enlargement of the bulb and the appearance of a floral stalk in the third year (after juvenile phase). In summer, the aerial part (leaves and flower stalks) senesces (Maiellaro and Macchia, 2001). In nature the annual cycle is repeated for several years while the bulb grows up to 3e4 cm in diameter. During the first two years after germination, the species is characterized by the presence of retractile roots which result in the progressive deepening of the bulbs up to 25e30 cm in the soil, (Herrmann et al., 2006). A lampascione crop can be established from seeds, bulbs, and bulbils (small secondary bulbs, produced laterally to the main bulb, also called offsets). By starting from 2 year-old bulbs, the market- able size of bulbs (>2.5 cm) will be reached after 1e2 years of cultivation. However, if the crop is started from seeds, bulbs are marketed after three to five years. M. comosum is used in the traditional gastronomy of Southern Italy. In Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, Molise and Calabria regions it * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ39 881589237; fax: þ39 881589342. E-mail address: a.bonasia@unifg.it (A. Bonasia). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Crop Protection journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cropro 0261-2194/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2012.02.001 Crop Protection 36 (2012) 65e72