Poa annua L.(Annual Blue grass) Problem

[Green Up]

I sprayed my lawns with Pre-M and it seemed to work very good on most weeds. However, I am seeing annual Blue grass is mast proportions this ywear. Does anyone know of the best way for me suppress or eliminate it? And yes I am liscensed through the state!!!!!!!!!!!

[IRRITECH]

Image, simazine. I had a real problem last year and hit the yards with both. Finally got rid of it but don't remember which one got it. (I think it was the Image). Oh yeah, this was only on bermuda.

This year, I ran my dimension in Oct and another round of simazine in Dec, very little problem this year.

[ProLawns]

Two apps of prograss in the fall or pre-emergent in the fall but you can't seed with the pre-em.

[IRRITECH]

Two apps of prograss in the fall or pre-emergent in the fall but you can't seed with the pre-em.

Yeah, but now that the pre-emerge didn't hold what do you suggest to get rid of it now. That was the question.

[hmartin]

When did you spray the Pre-M. Many LCOs don't get their Fall pre-emerge application (pendimethalin, prodiamine, dithiopyr, etc) out soon enough. Timing isn't so critical with Simazine since it will control young poa.

I've heard that Revolver and Certainty removes poa. Roundup, 6 weeks ago, would have been great.

[Grandview]

I have had mixed results with Certainity. In the spring it did very little and in fall it took 90%. The Monsanto rep told me to expect 50%. Annual blue grass is genetically diverse, hence control will vary.

[cgaengineer]

Image will get rid of it but it takes time.

[southernsprayguy]

I sprayed my lawns with Pre-M and it seemed to work very good on most weeds. However, I am seeing annual Blue grass is mast proportions this ywear. Does anyone know of the best way for me suppress or eliminate it? And yes I am liscensed through the state!!!!!!!!!!!

Well we have only had 20 inches of rain this winter throughout MS and AL. These preemergents are good but not that good. LOL!!

[southernsprayguy]

When did you spray the Pre-M. Many LCOs don't get their Fall pre-emerge application (pendimethalin, prodiamine, dithiopyr, etc) out soon enough. Timing isn't so critical with Simazine since it will control young poa.

I've heard that Revolver and Certainty removes poa. Roundup, 6 weeks ago, would have been great.

I agree with the Revolver! Expensive as hell but it works!

HMartin...were in MS are you at?

[tombo82685]

Poa annua is very hard to rid of esp this time of the year when its most active with its seed heads. If i was going to try and surpess it or get rid of it i would attack it when its at its weakiest and thats during the heat, since poa annua is a winter annual. Other chemical may knock it down and weaken it but its not going to eliminate it.

[AmGreen]

I'm assuming you're spraying Bermuda, so you may want to try a mix of Speedzone with Glyphosate. Had some issues with Poa in a few yards and I wasn't about to spend the money on Image or Revolver, due to the large areas needing to be sprayed. Mixed the Speed at 1.5oz per and the Gly at .5oz per (1K) - two weeks later, yellow as can be. You may be able to spray only the Gly and get the same results, I don't know.

[DaughtryLC]

I my area I have to spray for it in the Fall. Simazine works well!

[southernsprayguy]

Other chemical may knock it down and weaken it but its not going to eliminate it.

I'm going to have to call b*ll*hit on that one!

[AmGreen]

I'm going to have to call b*ll*hit on that one!

I think it is actually pretty difficult to get rid of it in Fescue. I'm assuming that because he is in PA that that's most of what he deals with.

[southernsprayguy]

I think it is actually pretty difficult to get rid of it in Fescue. I'm assuming that because he is in PA that that's most of what he deals with.

I doubt seriously the entire golf course is fescue. Hey tombo...what kind of turf do you have on your golf course?

[AmGreen]

Okay, well let me make it more clear. Poa is a cool season grass or weed, depending on what you feel like calling it. Fescue, KBG, Rye, and Bentgrass are also cool season grasses or weeds, depending on their location. Unfortunately, unless I'm mistaken, there isn't a product available that will easily remove Poa from any of the previously mentioned grasses.

Although the entire golf course may not be covered in Fescue, I'm willing to bet that the Bentgrass doesn't make it very easy to remove Poa from either. I don't think they have much Bermuda up there...

[southernsprayguy]

WOW AmGreen!!!....I'm so glad you figured that out. Finally a genius in our midst!!!!!! BTW there is a product out there called Velocity (Valent). Only works in Creeping Bent and Perrenial Rye but two applications will take out the Poa. Certainty is labeled by Monsanto to control Poa in Creeping Bent. Prograss is labeled to take out Poa in Rye, KBG, Tall Fescue, St. Aug, and dormant Bermuda..there is a risk of injury in Creeping Bent. Need I go on?


In established Fescue lawns, I have spray Simazine at a quart to the acre and taken out Poa. The Fescue looked as thick and healthy as the previous year. Alrighty then....

[Volman]

Have sort of same problem maybe someone can shed some light on. Just took on a new account. Zoysia with poa. Zoysia is about 30% green. & poa already has seed heads. Will simazine help much?

[Green Up]

I have talked to several golf corse manager and none of them has been able to completely control it. What a pain in the butt it has been.

[tombo82685]

I doubt seriously the entire golf course is fescue. Hey tombo...what kind of turf do you have on your golf course?

In the roughs its a conglomerate of all different types of grasses. We do have bermuda up here its found on some of are collars and tees but its mainly in the rough. On the greens and fairways its mainly all poa annua with some bent, we are a poa annua golf course. We have 4 greens that are bent and the poa is comming up through that now. What I meant by my statement that you called me bullshit on is that, yes you can kill poa annua sure, but it produces hundreds of thousands of seed heads, actually i believe its one of the top seed head producing grasses. Anyways, what im trying to get at is yes you may kill the existing poa annua but their is always more comming up. So while the existing stand is dying more are comming up. Its a constant battle. Unless you use a fumigant like methyl bromide and wipe the top couple inches clean of everything then the poa is always gonna be their. When you apply those chemicals to turf is their any visible phytotoxicity on the other grass species? Also, if you apply the product to a yard how does it correspond to kentucky bluegrass in the turf stand, since that and poa are from the same family. My approach would still be to attack whatever your trying to do in summertime when poa annua is in a weaken state since it prefers cool temperatures.

[tombo82685]

Also, what you have to take into consideration, is when you kill the poa, aesthetically you will have a yellow dying grass. On a golf course this is not acceptable in golfers mind they expect to see green greens, not spots on greens where its yellow, wilted, or dying. Its really a struggle, in the summertime the poa doesnt grow much and thus gives the advatage to the other grass species to gain and edge. On the other hand in during the fall to spring poa has the edge and gains back what the other turf had on it, so its like a stalemate almost.

[hmartin]

Simazine will barely do anything to mature poa. You might want to hope for hot weather or use simazine and image after greenup.

Have sort of same problem maybe someone can shed some light on. Just took on a new account. Zoysia with poa. Zoysia is about 30% green. & poa already has seed heads. Will simazine help much?

[AmGreen]

WOW AmGreen!!!....I'm so glad you figured that out. Finally a genius in our midst!!!!!! BTW there is a product out there called Velocity (Valent). Only works in Creeping Bent and Perrenial Rye but two applications will take out the Poa. Certainty is labeled by Monsanto to control Poa in Creeping Bent. Prograss is labeled to take out Poa in Rye, KBG, Tall Fescue, St. Aug, and dormant Bermuda..there is a risk of injury in Creeping Bent. Need I go on?


In established Fescue lawns, I have spray Simazine at a quart to the acre and taken out Poa. The Fescue looked as thick and healthy as the previous year. Alrighty then....

Well there you go - guess I was mistaken. Now I can treat some areas that have been driving my crazy on one of my nicer lawns. Thanks for the knowledge - without being a d*ck would be nice.

[ted putnam]

I agree with the Revolver! Expensive as hell but it works!

HMartin...were in MS are you at?

This would be my choice as well. Be careful with Image. The label states it is not to be used on Bermuda in the "transition period". That would be Spring or Fall, going into or coming out of dormancy. You might be able to blame the dead spots on SDS(Spring Dead Spot) but this would be a hard sell to some customers...JMO

[southernsprayguy]

Well there you go - guess I was mistaken. Now I can treat some areas that have been driving my crazy on one of my nicer lawns. Thanks for the knowledge - without being a d*ck would be nice.

Taking the comment a little personal aren't we. Just having fun with ya! Oh well.

[AmGreen]

Taking the comment a little personal aren't we. Just having fun with ya! Oh well.

No not at all - but thanks for the knowledge, it is much appreciated.

[Volman]

Simazine will barely do anything to mature poa. You might want to hope for hot weather or use simazine and image after greenup.

I've never used simazine during greenup. any issues?

[hmartin]

I haven't had any problems using 1qt/ac of 4lb Simazine as the bermuda broke dormancy. TurfUnlimited believes that Simazine delays greenup, so I expect that responses will vary. I called a Dr. in the turf department at Miss. State about Simazine delaying greenup, and he said that an amount up to the labeled rate (2qt/ac) shouldn't affect greenup of common bermuda. He also said that 1.5 qt/ac was all that should be applied to most varieties of hybrid bermuda, no matter the situation.

[IRRITECH]

This would be my choice as well. Be careful with Image. The label states it is not to be used on Bermuda in the "transition period". That would be Spring or Fall, going into or coming out of dormancy. You might be able to blame the dead spots on SDS(Spring Dead Spot) but this would be a hard sell to some customers...JMO

Image will not kill bermuda during greenup, however it can leave the grass weak and looking a bit neon green for a while. (been there done that)

[SOONER GREEN]

I dont know how far out of dormancy the bermuda is down there but a couple of ways to try is to mix msma & urea or msma and ammonium sulfate.
If they arn't residential you might try this: http://www2.dupont.com/Professional_Products/en_US/assets/downloads/pdfs/H64879.pdf (http://http://www2.dupont.com/Professional_Products/en_US/assets/downloads/pdfs/H64879.pdf)

[cgaengineer]

Image will not kill bermuda during greenup, however it can leave the grass weak and looking a bit neon green for a while. (been there done that)

Not even the first application of RoundUp will kill bermuda, that being said I have used Image when Bermuda was coming out of dormancy with little signs of stress.