Lynn M. Sosnoskie
Rui Liu- 1School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell AgriTech, Cornell University, Geneva, NY, United States
- 2Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Washington State University, Prosser, WA, United States
Editorial on the Research Topic
Weed management in specialty crops
The unique challenge of specialty crop weed management
Specialty crops, which include fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs, and ornamentals, are a vital part of United States (US) agriculture. Although they are typically grown on smaller acreages than grain or forage crops, they make significant contributions to the agricultural economy (USDA-NASS, 2025). Weeds pose major threats to specialty crops by competing for resources and indirectly interfering with hosting pests and diseases, increasing physical risks to workers, impeding field operations, and reducing harvest efficiency. Weed control in specialty crops is challenging due to a limited number of registered herbicides, increasing herbicide resistance, crop sensitivity to chemical treatments, narrow-spectrum weed control options, and the rising cost and decreasing availability of labor (Boyd et al., 2022; Fennimore and Doohan, 2008; Hanson et al., 2014; Kunkel et al., 2008). These combined challenges have created an urgent need for integrated, innovative, effective, and sustainable weed management solutions tailored to specialty crop systems (Brainard et al., 2023; Korres et al., 2019; Westwood et al., 2018). Recent research has begun to tackle these issues, offering several promising strategies that merit broader awareness and adoption.
Conventional and alternative mulching systems
Mulching is a key nonchemical weed control strategy in specialty crops, including ornamental container plant production where limited space can make crops especially vulnerable to weed competition. The review by Khamare and Marble examines the use of common mulches, such as rice hulls, pine needles and bark, wood chips, coconut fibers, and recycled paper products, for weed suppression. Innovative and unconventional approaches including weed discs, biodegradable sprays, herbicide-treated mulches, and substrate stratification are also discussed. Despite drawbacks like decomposition and potential phytotoxicity, proper mulching can reduce herbicide use and labor costs. The limited availability of suitable mulch materials for container plant production highlights the need for research into novel options, such as allelopathic plants, invasive species, crop residues, and food processing byproducts, alongside innovative mulching techniques and economic analyses, to enhance weed suppression, reduce herbicide use, and improve the sustainability of nursery operations.
Under field production conditions, hydromulches offer a sustainable alternative to traditional polyethylene (PE) mulch. These biodegradable, liquid-applied mulches are made from shredded newspaper, water, and natural tackifiers like guar gum or psyllium husk. Research by Ahmad et al. in strawberry systems shows demonstrates that hydromulches (HM) with guar gum (GG) included as a tackifier can suppress weeds nearly as well as PE mulch, without contributing to plastic pollution. The degradation of GG HM varied across locations with season-long stability observed in North Dakota. In some trials, strawberry yields were higher under HM, highlighting its potential as a sustainable weed control option, although improvements in materials, equipment, and cost-effectiveness are needed for successful commercial adoption.
Harnessing allelopathic properties
Sidhu et al. describes research results highlighting the allelopathic properties of organic materials, including maple leaves (ML), pine bark (PB), and red hardwood (HW), among others, to suppress liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha) in container grown ornamental production. In laboratory trials, ML extract showed the strongest suppression of liverwort germination at two weeks after treatment. In greenhouse trials, all mulch extracts suppressed liverwort for the first two weeks. Over 10 weeks, PB and HW provided the most effective long-term control with the least liverwort biomass. Further research should explore additional organic mulches for allelochemical potential, assess their phytotoxicity on ornamentals, and identify the active compounds responsible. Understanding discrepancies between lab and greenhouse results and evaluating performance under different irrigation methods is also crucial. These efforts could enhance organic weed control strategies by leveraging natural chemical interactions in diverse specialty crop systems.
Strategic herbicide programs for resistance management
For some crops, carefully designed herbicide programs remain necessary components of integrated weed management. For instance, Miranda et al. demonstrated that sequential applications of very long-chain fatty acid (VLCFA)-inhibiting herbicides have shown promise for controlling acetolactate synthase (ALS)-resistant Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) in dry edible beans. Programs incorporating pendimethalin plus either dimethenamid-P or S-metolachlor applied preemergence, followed by postemergence applications of the same VLCFA inhibitors, provided effective Palmer amaranth control while maintaining crop safety. Such strategic herbicide programs, when implemented within broader integrated approaches, can address resistance concerns while minimizing environmental impacts and protecting crop yields. For long-term control, integrated weed management strategies are essential. These may include reducing seedbank size, diversifying herbicide modes of action, and rotating with competitive crops like corn.
Understanding weed-crop interactions
Effective weed management requires understanding how weeds interact with crops and other pests. Research on lima beans by Sankula et al. has demonstrated that common cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium, jimsonweed (Datura stramonium), and ivyleaf morningglory (Ipomoea hederacea) at densities as low as 7 plants per 10 meters of row can reduce pod numbers by up to 40%. Lima beans also suppressed weed biomass and seed production by 40-60%, highlighting the complexities of crop-weed competition. These findings also emphasize that weed management decisions must consider on the impacts on weed seed banks, harvest efficiency, and interactions with diseases like Rhizoctonia solani. This research underscores the need for tailored, system-specific approaches to weed management rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.
The path forward
Effective weed management in specialty crops requires diverse, integrated strategies tailored to specific regions and crop systems. Priority areas include combining physical, biological, and selective chemical methods; adapting practices to local conditions; increasing funding for non-chemical and ecological research; and improving knowledge transfer through extension programs. With rising challenges like herbicide resistance, climate change, and labor shortages, innovative, research-driven solutions are critical to sustaining specialty crop production while protecting the environment and public health.
Author contributions
LS: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. RL: Writing – review & editing.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Generative AI statement
The author(s) declare that no Generative AI was used in the creation of this manuscript.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
References
Boyd N. S., Moretti M. L., Sosnoskie L. M., Singh V., Kanissery R., Besançon T. E., et al. (2022). Occurrence and management of herbicide resistance in annual vegetable production systems in North America. Weed Sci. 70, 515–528. doi: 10.1017/wsc.2022.43
Brainard D. C., Haramoto E. R., Leon R. G., Kells J. J., Van Wychen L. R., Devkota P., et al. (2023). A survey of weed research priorities: key findings and future directions. Weed Sci. 71, 330–343. doi: 10.1017/wsc.2023.24
Fennimore S. A. and Doohan D. J. (2008). The challenges of specialty crop weed control, future directions. Weed Technol. 22, 364–372. doi: 10.1614/WT-07-102.1
Hanson B. D., Wright S. D., Sosnoskie L. M., Fischer A., Jasieniuk M., Roncoroni J. A., et al. (2014). Herbicide-resistant weeds challenge some signature cropping systems. Calif Agric. 68, 142–152. doi: 10.3733/ca.v068n04p142
Korres N. E., Burgos N. R., Travlos I., Vurro M., Gitsopoulos T. K., Varanasi V. K., et al. (2019). New directions for integrated weed management: Modern technologies, tools and knowledge discovery. Adv. Agron. 155, 243–319. doi: 10.1016/bs.agron.2019.01.006
Kunkel D. L., Salzman F. P., Arsenovic M., Baron J. J., Braverman M. P., and Holm R. E. (2008). The role of IR-4 in the herbicide registration process for specialty food crops. Weed Technol. 22, 373–377. doi: 10.1614/WT-07-115.1
USDA-NASS (2025). U.S. Department of Agriculture – National Agricultural Statistics Service 2022 Census of Agriculture (Washington, DC: USDA-NASS Department of Agriculture). Available at: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/index.php/.
Keywords: specialty crops, weed control, weed management, mulches, herbicide resistance, ornamental plants industry, dry beans, lima beans
Citation: Sosnoskie LM and Liu R (2025) Editorial: Weed management in specialty crops. Front. Agron. 7:1624103. doi: 10.3389/fagro.2025.1624103
Received: 07 May 2025; Accepted: 23 May 2025;
Published: 10 June 2025.
Edited and Reviewed by:
Shibu Jose, University of Missouri, United StatesCopyright © 2025 Sosnoskie and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Lynn M. Sosnoskie, bG1zNDM4QGNvcm5lbGwuZWR1; Rui Liu, cnVpLmxpdUB3c3UuZWR1MA==