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Temperatures, drought, amine/ester

3K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Marcos 
#1 ·
I've searched it many times, and everyone says something different,
in temps 80-85, not too much rain, what is safer, and what is more effective: an ester like speedzone, or an amine like momentum fx2? this is for cool season.

i know an ester is better in cool.

guys say the ester will vaporize and drift, reducing effectiveness and putting bushes etc in danger .... others say esters work better in heat ... are they more likely to burn the grass?

The speedzone label says to use MORE in drought and heat. (1.5oz)
The momentum label says to use LESS in drought and heat.(1.1oz) or to only use spot treatments.

so from that it sounds like ester is safer.
but sounds like most of you use amine in heat and ester in cool. I know ester works better colder, and amine is generally cheaper for general use .. i will assume this is in fact why some do it this way.
but i want to know which is safer and which is more effective in 80-85 temps and maybe some light rain every week or so.

a local company thats around 2mil in sales says they switch to speedzone in high temps.

so which is it? there seems to be no consensus vote. when these are 2 very different product types, and effectiveness/risk of burning a lawn is at stake it seems important that we all agree/know the same stuff.

hope you guys are enjoying your summer:)
 
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#2 ·
I switched to Speed Zone this year (mainly due to violets), but also found that I had less concern when temps were hitting 85 during applications at the end of June. Within 3 days edges of violets were burnt along with many other weeds showing complete burn down. Much more expensive than 3-way, but works fast on some tough weeds. I may use this again this fall, but am researching other options as well. Oh, I used Trimec 992 in past years with great results, just didn't do anything for the violets.
 
#3 ·
I switched to Speed Zone this year (mainly due to violets), but also found that I had less concern when temps were hitting 85 during applications at the end of June. Within 3 days edges of violets were burnt along with many other weeds showing complete burn down. Much more expensive than 3-way, but works fast on some tough weeds. I may use this again this fall, but am researching other options as well. Oh, I used Trimec 992 in past years with great results, just didn't do anything for the violets.
You are seeing the increased speed on kill and the wild violet control coming frmo the carfentrazone.

I would recommend instead of using Speed Zone, just use your regular 3-Way product and spike it with Quick Silver (Carfentrazone).

Then you will have the same product you will just mix it yourself which will save you some cash!
 
#4 ·
In my opinion there is no doubt that Amine is safer in hot/dry weather. If the temperature is over 80 at the time of application I would not apply an ester but would have no problem applying an amine product up to 90 degrees.
Rodney is correct in saying that adding Quicksilver to three way is just about the same it is not quite, the 2,4-d in Speedzone is an ester based product while the 2.4-d in the typical three way is an amine product. The only time I use Speedzone is if there are wild violets, otherwise I use three way or Momentum Fx2.
 
#5 ·
In my opinion there is no doubt that Amine is safer in hot/dry weather. If the temperature is over 80 at the time of application I would not apply an ester but would have no problem applying an amine product up to 90 degrees.
Rodney is correct in saying that adding Quicksilver to three way is just about the same it is not quite, the 2,4-d in Speedzone is an ester based product while the 2.4-d in the typical three way is an amine product. The only time I use Speedzone is if there are wild violets, otherwise I use three way or Momentum Fx2.
Mike,

Sent you a PM about a LP Seeder at an auction. Call me if you need any info.

RC
 
#6 ·
Esters, when they're used in a small, reasonable % to the total volume of the given tank-mixed herbicide, are just fine and dandy in hot weather..... when things are growing WELL, in hot weather.

The real problems arise, however, when you factor in other possible warm season variables such as long-term turf dessication, and/or outright drought conditions like we had here in Ohio last summer.
Using anything with ester on turf, in extreme situations such as this, is frankly, like throwing gasoline onto fire.
 
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