The weather here is finally warming up and I'm about to spray Drexel MSMA 6 Plus. I have a 25 gallon sprayer and plan on spraying approximately 4 acres in an effort to combat this nasty yard I inherited when I purchased a house a few months back. When reading the manufacturers recommendations, it says to mix 1.33 fluid ounces of this product in 1 to 2.5 gallons of water and apply to an area of 1,000 square feet.

When you do the math that comes out to be roughly 231 ounces to 261 gallons of water at a 1.33 ounce to 1.5 gallons of water. Therefore to cover my whole four acres we are looking at almost 2 gallons every time I spray.

My question: It ranges of 1.33 ounces per 1 to 2.5.....thats a huge variance. I know it's dependent upon how bad the weeds are, but surely there can be a more precise suggestion with a smaller variance than that.

Any suggestions/comments?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, it is giving you a range of 1-2.5gals of water to be used as a carrier for the herbicide. The only way you'll know how much water(carrier) you'll be using per thousand ft sq is to calibrate your equipment. Once you've done this you should be able to figure out how much concentrate to add to your tank. As a rule of thumb, MSMA should not be sprayed until daytime temps have reached 90 and night time temps are at 70 (consistently). If you do not follow this "rule of thumb" you will probably not get the results you seek. IMO it is a bit early for spraying MSMA. Make good use of the MSMA you have. More than likely it is the last you will ever see. It's registration and availability has been eliminated by the EPA due to environmental problems from "mass misuse".
I hope you don't take this personally because it is not meant that way but it is because of people much like you that professionals no longer have access to MSMA. The difference between you and them is that at least you asked questions of people who know and others just dump it in the tank. I commend you for this. Good Luck

 

Also, what kind of weeds are you spraying for right now? MSMA kills a lot of the grassy weeds that may not be showing their ugly heads yet. And like Ted mentioned MSMA is not labled for residendial turf now so old stock should not be wasted IMO

 

Msma. Man, I hate people that don't know anything about chemistry and freak out when they hear 'arsenic'. Now, due to a lack of understanding, my favorite chemical for crabgrass is gone.
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I figured this would cause a stir among professionals here on the thread, but Ted I don't take offense and I appreciate your honesty and time for answering my question.

First let me assure you that I'm not doing this on my own. My brother-in-law has his applicators license and will be coming down the weekend I spray to help me out. I'm just reading up on the MSMA and trying to calculate what I need for my acreage. Given the directions say I can mix 1.3 oz to 1-2.5 gallons I was just wondering why there was such a variance. Does the ratio reflect how far "gone" your yard is or is that a range that you will set your sprayer to? Also, I won't be spraying until the conditions are right (air temp at a minimum of 70 degrees, proper ratio, etc)

As I stated, I want to apply this in the correct manner and I'm just trying to do as much research as possible before my brother-in-law gets here and I figured this would be the best place. ( I didn't want to be totally in the dark when he drives 2 hours to help me) Since this chemical costs so much I wanted to understand the wide array of mixing ratio's that are acceptable.

Turf Dawg i'll mostly be spraying for bahiagrass, crab grass, dallisgrass and johnson grass. But as I stated before I'm a good three weeks or so from spraying.

 

I figured this would cause a stir among professionals here on the thread, but Ted I don't take offense and I appreciate your honesty and time for answering my question.

First let me assure you that I'm not doing this on my own. My brother-in-law has his applicators license and will be coming down the weekend I spray to help me out. I'm just reading up on the MSMA and trying to calculate what I need for my acreage. Given the directions say I can mix 1.3 oz to 1-2.5 gallons I was just wondering why there was such a variance. Does the ratio reflect how far "gone" your yard is or is that a range that you will set your sprayer to? Also, I won't be spraying until the conditions are right (air temp at a minimum of 70 degrees, proper ratio, etc)

As I stated, I want to apply this in the correct manner and I'm just trying to do as much research as possible before my brother-in-law gets here and I figured this would be the best place. ( I didn't want to be totally in the dark when he drives 2 hours to help me) Since this chemical costs so much I wanted to understand the wide array of mixing ratio's that are acceptable.

Turf Dawg i'll mostly be spraying for bahiagrass, crab grass, dallisgrass and johnson grass. But as I stated before I'm a good three weeks or so from spraying.

This is what they are saying. It will be a range. Depending on the actual output of the pump with whatever tips you are using and the speed at which you travel to apply. In short, calibrating your equipment. It is important to figure this out with plain water before you add any chemical. They are saying you should apply at least 1 gal/k. IF this is what you are spraying at, you will get a max of 25k out of your 25 gal sprayer. Measure an area out and see how much water you apply to that area and make your calculations from there.
P.S. Have your brother-in-law bring enough metsulfuron for 4 acres. The MSMA will not work real well on the bahia

 

Ted,

Thanks for that clarification. Now I understand what you are saying, and how to properly interpret the mixing instructions. This weekend I'll hook up my sprayer and add water and run the 25 gallon tank until it is dry and calculate the square footage I cover and go from there. That should give me a good approximation of what I can expect.

I purchased enough MSMA to allow me 5 applications on my yard. From my understanding they have not developed anything close to MSMA as far as a replacement. Do you think 5 sprayings over the next few years will get my yard in good enough shape that I can spot spray and use pre-emergent, along with another type of post-emergent, and be okay?

Thanks!

 

I personally feel once you get the Dallisgrass gone you will be good to go, because there are other herbicides [pre and post] that will get the other things. In the area you are in, unless someone seeded Bahai, I bet you have KR Bluestem and the MSMA will work pretty good on that. Two or three apps of MSMA should get the Dallisgrass, if the weather is warm enough, and a good pre-emergent should keep the seeds at bay till they are no longer a problem. Others may not agree but I seem to have better luck using a fine spray tip on the Dallisgrass than a tip that puts out a large droplet.

 

I personally feel once you get the Dallisgrass gone you will be good to go, because there are other herbicides [pre and post] that will get the other things. In the area you are in, unless someone seeded Bahai, I bet you have KR Bluestem and the MSMA will work pretty good on that. Two or three apps of MSMA should get the Dallisgrass, if the weather is warm enough, and a good pre-emergent should keep the seeds at bay till they are no longer a problem. Others may not agree but I seem to have better luck using a fine spray tip on the Dallisgrass than a tip that puts out a large droplet.

Thanks Turf Dawg! That's what I was thinking. I hate Dallis grass! Unfortunately the yard that came with my house has not been taken care of properly. I've finally got it all mowed and now its time to weed out the weeds! I'm hoping MSMA over the next few years coupled with pre-emergent will do the trick! I'm sure, since you are out of Texas, that you understand how most of us in this area get to mow every week because of weeds and not because the "good" grass needs cutting!

 

The weather here is finally warming up and I'm about to spray Drexel MSMA 6 Plus. I have a 25 gallon sprayer and plan on spraying approximately 4 acres in an effort to combat this nasty yard I inherited when I purchased a house a few months back. When reading the manufacturers recommendations, it says to mix 1.33 fluid ounces of this product in 1 to 2.5 gallons of water and apply to an area of 1,000 square feet.

When you do the math that comes out to be roughly 231 ounces to 261 gallons of water at a 1.33 ounce to 1.5 gallons of water. Therefore to cover my whole four acres we are looking at almost 2 gallons every time I spray.

My question: It ranges of 1.33 ounces per 1 to 2.5.....thats a huge variance. I know it's dependent upon how bad the weeds are, but surely there can be a more precise suggestion with a smaller variance than that.

Any suggestions/comments?

Thanks in advance!

Try 1 ounce per gallon. Remember though, you should apply a second application in approximately 2 weeks.

 

12 year old thread.....think he got it answered.....