spraying/chemicals

ok i have 2 questions i need some help on the first one is i live in south central oklahoma i usally start applying my weed control in the last week of jan thru march the 15 by then the bermuda grass is starting to come out of dormancy anyway am i starting these apps to early or should i wait till feb. for my chemicals im using roundup and simazine for premerge on crabgrass. The 2nd question is do most of you use this preemerge (simazine) to control crabgrass and if you do is it pretty effective i myself cant tell if it is or not because it all depends on our weather if we have a rainy summer crabgrass gets pretty bad around here so i get a lot of calls for msma if its a dry summer crabgrass it is not much of a problem. The simazine label shows you can use it for premerge control for crabgrass but other people tell me its not to great for this type of weed to control it premergently they say surflan or pendulum works better sometimes i think they say this to get more money out of people.

 

Simazine is good on crabgrass but it won't last more than about 30-45 days. Even if you time the applications perfectly you won't get anything close to season long control.

 

Send me a private message with your email and I'll try to help.

 

Simazine applied for crabgrass control is a waste of money. Check out some of the info that the different Universitys have available on the web. Simizine is usually listed as poor to fair control of crabgrass.

 

Simazine will not control your crabgrass effectively at all, but it does control Poa Annua and other Winter weeds. Nothing wrong with continuing to spray it on your Bermuda in January, but I wouldn't use it past that time. Using it too late will slow the greenup of the Bermuda.

You should look at barricade (prodiamine) or pendimethalin to prevent crabgrass. The preemergent can be applied just about anytime up to mid-March, so start your round in just enough time to finish before then. If you start this time of year, just make sure you apply enough preemergent to carry though the Summer. With barricade that would be 1 lb AI per acre.

Mid-March is a generic guideline, but what really matters is when soil temps hit 55 degrees. That varies each year in any climate.