Vol. 54—2000 - NorthEastern Weed Science Society

VIRGINIA TECH'S ONLINE WEED IDENTIFICA nON
AND PEST MANAGEMENT GUIDE
K. W. Bradley, P. Sforza, and E. S. Hagood I
ABSTRACT
The Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide and the Pest Management Guide for
Field Crops have been available on the internet since 1996 at the web sites
http://www.ppws.vt.edu/weedindex.htm and http://www.ppws.vt.edu/-pmg/intro.htm.
Collectively, these guides serve as an important resource for many growers and
agrochemical dealers throughout Virginia and the eastern United States. More recently,
the weed identification guide has developed into a valuable educational resource in
undergraduate weed science courses taught at Virginia Tech and at other universities
across the nation.
The weed identification guide currently has 180 separate weed species available for
viewing, however additional weed images are being added daily. Each web page
provides an average of 3 to 4 images of each weed. These images illustrate specific
features of each weed that are important for identification, such as flowers, fruit, and leaf
shape. Many of the weed pages have a botanical description accompanying each image
and additional descriptions will be included in the future. The weed identification guide
is primarily intended to assist in the identification of common weeds and weed seedlings
that normally occur in most pastures and field crops of the eastern United States.
However, several aquatic weeds and weeds commonly associated with turfgrass are also
included in the guide.
The online pest management guide contains current weed control recommendations
for alfalfa, com, cotton, pastures, small grains, sorghum, soybeans, peanuts, and tobacco.
The recommendations included in the guide are based on research conducted by several
extension weed specialists at Virginia Tech and throughout the northeastern United
States. Recommendations are given for some of the more common and troublesome
weeds associated with each crop, along with specific use-rates for each herbicide listed.
The web pages also contain a guide to prepackaged herbicide mixtures, a guide to single
active ingredient herbicides, and rainfree periods for most postemergence herbicides.
The internet guide is updated regularly and is a direct reflection of the information
published in the annual Virginia Cooperative Extension Pest Management Guide for
Field Crops.
'Grad. Res. Asst., Ext. Assoc., and Prof., Dept. of Plant Path., Phys., and Weed Science,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061
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