When to throw down the Crabgrass preventer

[Okie4570]

Not a class, but an EPA definition. EPA considers anything that kills a "pest" a pesticide.

So all our herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and pesticides are considered pesticides since they control what we consider pests, no matter if plant or animal.

 

[Perplexed]

Class, type, category, etc. The EPA may not break them down, but researchers do. Bottom line, a herbicide is a pesticide.

 

[Okie4570]

The EPA does break them down, that's what I said above. They are all pesticides by definition. Herbicides, fungicides, insecticides are all considered pesticides by the EPA.

I put anywhere from 20k-30k gallons on the ground per year.

 

[MarkV]

I scalped and put down pre-m today. That's what the tea leaves told me to do.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

Crabgrass doesn't normally pop up until late May, early June, but getting a pre-emergent down now is ideal for early season garbage. You'll want to put more down in late April, early May, and again in August.

Hit the lawn with fert in March, July, and October. If you're not watering, fertilize with slow release products like milorganite.

Even with all the chems in the world, you'll still get weeds here and there... spot spray with 24D, it'll kill crabgrass early (1st and 2nd tiller growth) or snag some msma to kill everything except bermuda (mix light in summer heat, 1/2 oz per gallon)

If goosegrass (what 9 out of 10 Okies mistake for crabgrass) pops up, spot spray with round up/glyphosate. It's msma proof. Grass will grow back.

Of course, that's just what I do in SWOK.

 

[SlugSlinger]

I have used Pendamethalin and Prodiamine. These are pre-emergents. They stop germination of more than crabgrass. Both work good, but Prodiamine last longer between treatments. Go check out Stillwater Milling. You can buy almost any chemical you can think of there and it's not the overpriced stuff you buy at the box stores. Just make sure you research what you want to buy before you go in there. They have so much stuff, it will overwhelm you.

I started spraying glyphosate (roundup chemical) in the winter. You can get glyphosate cheap at Atwoods. This will knock out the weeds that germinate in the fall but don't start growing until spring. This works on Bermuda lawns. Don't spray it on a green lawn. You may still have time to spray if you see no signs of green Bermuda sprigs.

 

[O4L]

My tiny lawn is about 80% clover. What's best to eliminate that and dandelions?

 

[MarkV]

My tiny lawn is about 80% clover. What's best to eliminate that and dandelions?

What kind of grass do you have?

 

[O4L]

What kind of grass do you have?

Bermuda.

 

[MarkV]

If it's still dormant (I started seeing green in mine about a week ago) you can use Round Up (or anything with glyphosate in it) . It kills everything, only put on dormant Bermuda. That's you're best bet for actively growing weeds.

For weed prevention everyone is going to have a different answer for you. Soil temps in OKC are right around 50F. I've read that you want to put down a pre-m before soil temps of 55F are reached.