Can you spray right after mowing?

[bill8379]

Also, should you wait 3 days AFTER you spray to cut?

[greendoctor]

You can. However that is dependent on height of cut and how much of the leaf area of the turf was taken off. Because I deal with turf cut at less than 3/4" with reel mowers catchers attached I wait 7 days before spraying and instruct not to mow again for 3 days after. Treating turf that is scalped is dangerous. Lots of things can go wrong, including lack of tolerance to the treatment becaust the turf is stressed and poor weed control due to lack of leaf area. I like to wait 3 days before lawn is mowed again as well. This gives adequate time for herbicides to be absorbed and translocated. With some herbicides such as dicamba(Banvel), Image and the triazines(Sencor, simazine), the product is wasted if mowing occurs before rain or irrigation moves it into the soil. Same is true of all sprayed preemergents.

[bill8379]

GReat INFO, thank you.

[americanlawn]

Just so the mowing was not too short. But some outfits will string trim the edges very short -- that could be a problem. In the Midwest, Kentucky bluegrass is the common turf -- mowing/trimming height should not be less than 3" now, but tell that to the new hire than runs the weed-eater. (herbicide needs to be absorbed by the foliage....not the "nubs").

Example -- a couple weeks ago, one of my guys was spraying a commercial property when two of our mowing crews showed up to start mowing. He radio'd me asking what to do. I told him to instruct the mowers not to string trim this time. (they had no problem with this cuz it would save them valuable time). So the mowers as well as my applicator worked on this property at the same time (each trying to stay out of each other's way).

I checked this property a week ago for weed kill (especially along the edges). Weed kill was a 100%.

The property was nearly 800,000 sq ft. The ride-on used for the 'weed & feed' was a TURFCO T3000. All is well, and this corporation's headquarters looks very very nice. BTW we picked up this account cuz they were not happy with who they had last year...........I guess this explains how weedy it was two weeks ago.

[bill8379]

I told him to instruct the mowers not to string trim this time.That's a VERY nice safety tip even though I rarely scalp with the trimmer, it does happen.

[greendoctor]

Because the weedeater tears rather than cuts like a reel mower, I have seen some interesting effects as well. Such as my high iron liquid fertilizer turning the lawn black wherever a weedeater was used. Or the MSMA frying the lawn in the same areas. I now have the ability to treat lawns when they should be treated, instead of having an A$$hole manager telling me when he wants them done. The joys of self employment.

[LushGreenLawn]

Aren't you supposed to keep people off the lawn for as long as the label specifies? I would not spray where another crew was working at the same time.

[txgrassguy]

Read the Label - all of the information you need is contained in it, presuming that you are using pesticides labeled for residential use and not some agricultural product with a similar active ingredient.
Your question leaves way too much for interpretation, it is much better off to defer to the label. And if you can't answer the question according to the label, then call the pesticide manufacturer's number and ask their tech people.