Finally getting some warm weather this week lakes and dirt should start to warm up. If you are new to this like me I guess timing is key for this type of herbicide and it is the only way to take care of crabgrass. Some people on this site really know about this stuff-anyhow can I wait till the weekend or should I drop my poison mid-week?
Thanks
I would say this week. If you can time it right try to put it down before some rain.
Wait til Soil temp reaches 49-50*. You don’t want it to break down and/or wash away before the dreaded stuff absorbs it!
You might be too late, I was seeing weeds in my decorative rock last month (soil warms quicker because the rocks hold heat from the sun) so I did my pre-emergent on 3/29 – I live just to the east of the Twin City Metro. I use two different treatments to cover all the weed types that I have seen, and they can both be applied pre and post emergent. I’m trying a new to me product that has been extremely effective so far – it starves the weeds of chlorophyll and they turn a very pale whitish-green so it’s very apparent that it’s working. I had no visible weeds in my turf when I applied it, but they were already germinating, because after 5 days I was seeing the whitish-green stuff all over – mostly Nutsedge and Clover, which has been difficult to eradicate with big box store products in the past. I will be thrilled if it controls the Foxtail and Quackgrass as it’s supposed to, those are hard to control without harming the turfgrass, but they claim it will. I have neighbors on both sides that do nothing to maintain lawn, so I sprayed about 8 feet into their yards to create a buffer zone hopefully preventing most of their weeds from spreading into my yard. It’s very cool to see the line of whitish-green weeds dying in their yards to the exact line where I sprayed, while the rest of their yards are full of every weed imaginable.
mojo, what’s the new product’s name?
I think you’re late, too, if you’re near the cities. I seeded in the fall and had grass sprouting at least a month ago.
North metro it is not too late. Some guys jumped the gun with the early warm up but most soil temps did not reach the zone for long enough
I checked my soil temp, it was 46*
I’m waiting.
Scott’s says 52 degree ground temp. I was 42 an hour ago in Brainerd. It’s not warming very fast.
Thought I read 55-58 for 2-3 days which would mean I am not too late-just hope I can wait ’till the weekend, its going to be a busy week.
Netguy –
I found a generic version of Tenacity called Meso 4SC that works both pre and post emergent on a good variety of problem grasses and weeds. It’s a professional-only product, but available at DoMyOwn and other online places. It was around $60 for 8 oz, but you only add 1/3 oz per gallon of water to a backpack type sprayer (comes with a syringe for measuring), and treat the lawn twice – once pre-emergent, then again 2-3 weeks later, post-emergent (post-emergent should use a surfactant mixed in to better cover the weeds). I did a 1/3 acre lot with about 10 gallons of water. I also use Dimension 2EW pre-emergent to manage with some weeds/grasses that the Meso doesn’t control.
Please follow the safety guidelines when using professional-only products. Wear the recommended PPE, and do not use where runoff could get to a natural waterway. These products are amazing, if you follow the directions precisely they do what they say, but if they start to cause issues, the EPA will make them impossible for the average homeowner to obtain. Roundup and similar over-the-counter products for lawns have proven worthless to me.
The waterway puts the kabosh on these herbicides for me. Creek at the back of my lot and the front yard drains into the street which has a storm sewer that enters the same creek where it goes under the road.
When the dandy lions bloom is when I apply crab grass preventer. Which for me it was thrusday.
This is a post that helps stress the importance of location in your profile. Aleb has dandelions in Iowa, I’m 42 degrees in central Minnesota.
I had dandelions blooming a week ago in Minnetonka.
I agree it’s all relative to your location. If you had not applied it 2.5 weeks ago where I’m located (on the banks of Pool 4), you’d be wasting your time and money. My FIL is so into his lawn that he knows the soil temps here and checks them on a daily basis.
Personally I don’t deal with it as anything I put on my lawn could ultimately end up in the watershed here. I’d rather have a few weeds or crabgrass than see the crap washed into storm drains, creek, etc.
Your a bit late. Coming for a professional in the industry 20 years. you can put it down as soon as the snow is gone. many years the curb line will be all weeds because crab grass germinates early just appears late. the rest of the yard get hit.
Do you think Tenacity will kill the grass that has the taller, wider blades shown in this photo? It’s started as a few small spots a few years ago but keeps spreading more and more each year. Is it Nutsedge? Last year I asked a salesman at Gertens and he said they didn’t have anything that would kill it without also killing the desirable lawn grass.
IMG_7595-scaled.jpg
Google nutsedge killer. Ad says it is easy to get rid of.
Don’t mean to threadjack but what’s the best way to get rid of moss. I have moss growing where I had new grass growing last fall. It’s mixed in with the new grass (already growing this year) but it seems like I get this in spots every year.
Do you think Tenacity will kill the grass that has the taller, wider blades shown in this photo? It’s started as a few small spots a few years ago but keeps spreading more and more each year. Is it Nutsedge? Last year I asked a salesman at Gertens and he said they didn’t have anything that would kill it without also killing the desirable lawn grass.
It looks like quackgrass to me. Google quackgrass identification then go look at where the leaf meets the stem. If it is quackgrass there’s no easy solution to get it out of cool season grass.
Try 2-4-D on wide bladed weeds as it should be safe for grass
Supposed to be 70+ today never got out of the 50s, those 60s this week got dialed back a bit too-think I’m good this weekend for pre, for crabgrass.
I did it weeks ago prior to the first warmup.
Do a search and you’ll find that you should be checking the soil temperature. Here is what my search came up with.
Crabgrass preventer should be applied when soil temperatures reach 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. If you apply the herbicide too early in the spring, it may break down before the end of the germination cycle.
The lawn guys are putting it down whenever they have time. If it’s a weed and feed they will be mowing sooner. Making money.
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