In last week’s article on general rules for herbicides, I discussed pre-emergent, post-emergent and cool-season varieties.
From my email and comments on Facebook, I can conclude many listeners are wondering which brands to use. So, that’s what this week’s Friday Profile is all about - so you’ll know exactly what to look for and use while we are firmly entrenched in cool-season herbicide season.
When temperatures start to warm significantly and remain consistent, I’ll profile post-emergent herbicides, but that probably won’t be for two more months.
Some rules are very important when using cool-season products, especially considering the current weather conditions.
- You can misuse them by spraying when it’s too cool. We need a temperature range between 40 and 65 degrees.
- If you don’t add a surfactant, they just won’t work in this area because of our inherently hard water.
- There are other surfactants on the market, but I believe Turbo Spreader Sticker by Bonide is the most readily available, so that’s why I recommend it over all others.
- Remember that these are essentially “broadleaf” post-emergent herbicides. Please review “Weed Control for Early 2021” so you’ll know the differences.
The two most readily available cool-season broadleaf weed killers in the Houston area are pictured here. You’ll find them in most feed stores, Ace Hardware stores, and many family-owned and -operated nurseries and garden centers. If you wind up at a big box store or mass merchandiser that only carries other brands, make sure their labels say they’re “safe for southern turfgrasses” such as St. Augustine, Bermuda and zoysia.
As temperatures warm, Bonide and Ferti-lome also have the most appropriate broadleaf weed killers for spring and summer - Bonide Weed Beater for Southern Lawns and Ferti-lome Weed Out. I’ll discuss them and show you their pictures when the time is right. But if you use them now, you’ll damage dormant grass. Conversely, if you use cool-season herbicides when it’s too warm, you’ll also do unnecessary damage.
Keep in mind that mass merchandisers’ stock is usually the same throughout the U.S. Unfortunately, that means they sell herbicides in the south that are actually designed for northern climates and turfgrasses. A perfect is example is Ortho, which once sold possibly the best herbicide for southern turfgrass. But when Ortho got gobbled up by a bigger company, all their herbicides got homogenized and their southern-turfgrass formula disappeared. Hence, I get calls each spring from many Houston-area users who unwittingly applied Ortho and burned up their lawns. As Paul Harvey used to say, “Now you know the rest of the story.”
IMAGES: Manufacturers