Author Topic: Herbicide advice  (Read 6761 times)

AmbulanceDriver

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Herbicide advice
« on: April 12, 2012, 06:40:35 PM »
So....  We've got the invasion of the grape hyacinth going in our front yard.  Mostly it's in an area that has nothing else growing in it, other than a couple of bits that are in the lawn proper.  I've tried roundup, I've tried crossbow, and crossbow with a surfactant added.  And they're just sitting there smiling at me going, "Nice try....."

I've looked at the ground clear type of products that allegedly kill everything, but all of those keep things dead for a year.  And SWMBO would like to plant things where the grape hyacinth is now this spring/summer.   So long lasting herbicides are out.

Anyone have any suggestion for a "kill every [censored] living plant but doesn't stick around for a year" type of herbicide?
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Jim147

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2012, 06:52:19 PM »
Napalm?

Dig up all of the bulbs and add clean dirt back were you dig up.

I tend to just mow them down in the yard.

jim
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AmbulanceDriver

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2012, 06:56:28 PM »
Hrm.  just got some good advice from the local Coastal Farm and Ranch place....

Goes hand in hand with your suggestion Jim....

FIRE.

Seriously, a propane torch, burn the suckers to the ground every time they start to grow, and it uses up the energy reserves in the bulb.  It's a long term proposition, but it eventually kills them off. 

He also said a 50/50 mix of roundup and crossbow with the surfactant usually does a pretty good job, but to wait until it's at least 70* to try that because otherwise it doesn't absorb properly....
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AmbulanceDriver

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2012, 07:13:23 PM »
^

Yeah....  I know overkill is the tradition here at APS, but $290 will get me in trouble w/ SWMBO
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Scout26

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2012, 07:42:20 PM »
Exactly.  something like this would save your back while playing with fire:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NI7PQG/ref=asc_df_B000NI7PQG1974816?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B000NI7PQG&hvpos=1o3&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1234567890&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=

You can own flamethrower for $290 and you're worried about what SWMBO will say.  DUDE !!!  YOU'LL HAVE A FLAMETHROWER !!!



There's always this less expensive option:

« Last Edit: April 12, 2012, 09:45:11 PM by scout26 »
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GigaBuist

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2012, 08:49:37 PM »
You can spread lime around your yard to raise the pH (if it's needed) and improve grass growth.  This is well known.

But when you take a bunch of it (I used powdered lime) and saturate an area nothing* will grow there.  I did it on my brick patio for the first time this year.  It's been a few weeks and I haven't seen a single weed pop up.

What I don't know is how long it'll last until it washes out or proper dosages.  I just went spreading white powder around like I was Charlie Sheen because I don't care if nothing can grow there next month or next year.  It's my patio.

I'll ask my home and garden chemical guy at work tomorrow, but I bet his suggestion would be to just dig them up since they're bulbs.


*: As far as I know.

RoadKingLarry

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2012, 09:30:23 PM »
Exactly.  something like this would save your back while playing with fire:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NI7PQG/ref=asc_df_B000NI7PQG1974816?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B000NI7PQG&hvpos=1o3&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1234567890&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=

I've got one of those sans the backpack rig. Don't use it much.
 Mostly the 41% Glyphosate concentrate works for me. Different concentrations for different targets. About the only thing that laughs off 8 ounces to the gallon is Smilax(Greenbriar) (That *expletive deleted*it is hard to kill).
As mentioned earlier though, for Glyphosate or most any herbicide to work the temps have to be up there a bit I like to apply when temps are at least 75 with the sun shining.
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never_retreat

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #8 on: April 12, 2012, 09:39:31 PM »
Round up pro used full strength applied to the leaves on a hot day. Mix is some diesel for penetration.
Liquid pool chlorine will kill just about anything also. Cheep to. Stinks for a few days though.
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RevDisk

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #9 on: April 12, 2012, 09:49:05 PM »

Question, how do you kill every plant but grass in your lawn?
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GigaBuist

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #10 on: April 12, 2012, 10:29:21 PM »
Question, how do you kill every plant but grass in your lawn?

Golf course manger answer:  Add more grass seed.  Choke the sh*t out of everything else.

Chemical answer:  Spread something with 2,4-D (estrogen, basically) after a rain so it sticks to broad leaf weeds.

GigaBuist

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2012, 07:02:50 PM »
I'll ask my home and garden chemical guy at work tomorrow, but I bet his suggestion would be to just dig them up since they're bulbs.

I asked, and when he originally thought I was asking about my lawn he just laughed at me with that "sucks to be you" look in his eye.

So, bad news, AD.

His only chemical suggestion was Round-Up poison ivy control which is just the same chemicals you've already tried.

So, uh, you might want to get friendly with a garden hoe.

Tuco

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2012, 09:37:30 PM »
A good dose of roundup sometimes won't kill for 7-10 days.
A repeat application at 5 days after the initial is always a good idea.

If that doesn't do it, try this:

Fertilize it.  
Something cheap with a good dose of N(itrogen) to fire up the vegetative growth.
Give it enough water.

Stay with me here....

About a week after the new, light green growth shows up, preferably on a hot sunny day, do a dry application - i.e. granular - of  a broad spectrum herbicide. Water well.  Wait about an hour, to let the leaves dry, then do a foliar application of glyphosphate (Roundup, etc).  
Use the crossbow(2,4-d), roundup, sticker mix you've still got in the can, concentrating on the new growth.  
Adjust the nozzle to the finest mist, and spray until it runs off the leaves (blades).

This drill causes the vigorously growing plant to suck the systemic herbicides up through the bottom and absorb it in through the tops.  
And can work really well on stubborn woodies and herbaceous perennials.

edited -2,4-D is not effective on grape hyacinth, but will not impair the effectiveness of glyphosphate in a mix.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2012, 11:18:05 AM by Tuco »
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Regolith

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2012, 10:20:03 PM »
^

Yeah....  I know overkill is the tradition here at APS, but $290 will get me in trouble w/ SWMBO

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Dragon-VT-3-30-Propane/dp/B00004Z2FQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1334369783&sr=1-4

Same thing, sans backpack and cylinder, only $71.11.

We definitely need one of those things for the farm. Fighting blackberry vines with a machete gets really old after a while...
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MrsSmith

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #14 on: April 14, 2012, 12:39:35 AM »
You want to kill flowers? Why? Does your wife know about this?

Geesh. Dig them up and send them to me. I like hyacinth.

I really thought y'all were mostly logical men but here you all are fussing over a few flowers growing in your yard. It's not like they're dandelions or anything. But even if they were, it's a YARD, and none of you has the last name of Jones.
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Nick1911

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #15 on: April 14, 2012, 01:29:08 AM »
Question, how do you kill every plant but grass in your lawn?

Giga nailed it.  2,4-D.

To the OP: Mix 2,4-D with glyphosate.

Go to farm store and buy chemicals.  They will cost less, and be generally more concentrated.

Tuco

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #16 on: April 14, 2012, 11:05:32 AM »
2,4-d will only kill dicots.  Monocots will not be killed by 2,4-d.  Grasses are monocots, but so are many turf "weeds" like plantain, hemmerocalis, liriope, iris, surf surf surf...
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Tuco

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #17 on: April 14, 2012, 11:10:30 AM »
2,4-d will only kill dicots.  Monocots will not be killed by 2,4-d.  Grasses are monocots, but so are many turf "weeds" like plantain, hemmerocalis, liriope, iris, surf surf surf...

and Muscari spp.  Grape Hyacinth is a monocot. 2,4d is ineffective on grape hyacinth.
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Larry Ashcraft

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #18 on: April 14, 2012, 02:37:28 PM »
Quote
Mix 2,4-D with glyphosate
aka LandMaster.

I tank mix 6 oz of Landmaster and 2 oz of Trimec Plus per gallon, plus a dash of dish soap as a surfactant.  I haven't found anything it won't kill yet.  Trimec Plus kills bindweed on the first application if done right.

You want the best growing conditions possible when you spray.  A hot day after a rainy day is perfect.

RevDisk

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #19 on: April 16, 2012, 08:33:05 AM »
You want to kill flowers? Why? Does your wife know about this?

Geesh. Dig them up and send them to me. I like hyacinth.

I really thought y'all were mostly logical men but here you all are fussing over a few flowers growing in your yard. It's not like they're dandelions or anything. But even if they were, it's a YARD, and none of you has the last name of Jones.

I'm relocating most of the preferred flowers and plants to a holding zone. Rest?  Nuke from orbit.

I want my lawn to look decent, because it's mine. Started adding nitrogen to the soil (ammonium nitrate), and I suspect I'll be adding a LOT of lime as well. I'll be keeping it at 3-4 inches as I understand that's best to choke out weeds, GSP style. Once the lawn is good, I'll start putting in the raised flower beds.  Lotta rocks in the soil, which I'm not happy about. I'm fairly tempted to order soil, and top the current lawn with 6+ inches of top soil AND grade it properly. Current front lawn is just reclaimed forest and has plenty of uneven terrain.
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RoadKingLarry

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #20 on: April 16, 2012, 09:19:38 AM »
Quote
Started adding nitrogen to the soil (ammonium nitrate), and I suspect I'll be adding a LOT of lime as well.

If you're really serious about it get your soil tested. It'll point you in the right direction and keep you from wasting time and money.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

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Scout26

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #21 on: April 16, 2012, 10:44:06 AM »
Question, how do you kill every plant but grass in your lawn?

Answer that question and you'll make a fortune !!!

I'm relocating most of the preferred flowers and plants to a holding zone. Rest?  Nuke from orbit.

I want my lawn to look decent, because it's mine. Started adding nitrogen to the soil (ammonium nitrate), and I suspect I'll be adding a LOT of lime as well. I'll be keeping it at 3-4 inches as I understand that's best to choke out weeds, GSP style. Once the lawn is good, I'll start putting in the raised flower beds.  Lotta rocks in the soil, which I'm not happy about. I'm fairly tempted to order soil, and top the current lawn with 6+ inches of top soil AND grade it properly. Current front lawn is just reclaimed forest and has plenty of uneven terrain.

Get your soil tested (or buy one of the those test kits and do it yourself.  It's not that hard.)  Then do what it recommends.   If you don't have a good layer of topsoil, then getting enough delivered to to a depth of 4-8 inches is a good idea.   One good thing about Illinois is great topsoil (throw down some seeds and then run !!)  The bad thing is that below that layer of topsoil is clay.  Clay from Hell. 
Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants won't help.


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charby

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #22 on: April 16, 2012, 06:25:09 PM »
Make sure you follow label directions on whatever herbicide you use.

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AmbulanceDriver

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #23 on: March 13, 2015, 08:09:51 PM »
So, to resurrect a three year old thread......    Glyphosate & 2,4-D, plus a non-ionic surfactant (Ad-wet, specifically)....    That [expletive] kills EVERYTHING....   Sometimes takes more than one application, but darned if it doesn't do a number on whatever it touches....   of course, that means I have to be *really* careful what I get it on...   The grape hyacinth still shows up occasionally (dormant bulb wakes up I guess), but a quick spritz of the mix and it's toast.... 

Occasionally get a shoot of blackberry popping up (I'm guessing birds are dropping seeds as they fly out of the blackberry vines across the street)  but a quick hit of that and it's dead too...   

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roo_ster

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Re: Herbicide advice
« Reply #24 on: March 13, 2015, 09:30:25 PM »
Boiling water for a spot application.  Or 20% acetic acid vinegar.
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