Nutsedges and sedges (Cyperus sp.) are difficult to manage during the production of perennial environmental horticulture crops grown in containers or in the field. During the 2006 IR-4 Environmental Horticulture Workshop, a project was prioritized to screen for efficacious products to manage sedge and nutsedge in container or field grown environmental horticulture crops. Between 2007 and 2023, IR-4 evaluated a diverse group of products for pre- and post-emergent control of several sedges and nutsedges. During this time, IR-4 sponsored 84 research trials on 28 products or product formulations with 20 actives to manage sedges and nutsedge. Most research was conducted with pre-emergent herbicides.
The most effective options across these studies where IR-4 has at least 3 experiments include Pennant Magnum, SedgeHammer, Tower, and V-10142 for yellow nutsedge management. However, the IR-4 dataset is limited, and several products tested show promise for managing annual sedges, rice flatsedge, purple nutsedge or compressed sedge.