pre-emergent for crabgrass

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kjd
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pre-emergent for crabgrass

Post by kjd » May 1st, 2022, 9:23 am

My first post!! I appreciate advice from the form We moved into a new home last spring and with with the move I never got around to putting down pre-emergent. Then had an hotter/dryer than average summer which seemed to favor our lawn having a huge amount of crabgrass. We have a fairly large lawn (~1 acre), so I had been searching for a cost effective per-emergent for a large lawn. I have a lawn tractor with both a tow-behind rotary spreader and a large tank sprayer. I ended up finding good reviews for Pendulum AquauaCap (pendimethalin) on a couple websites and I purchased the recommended amount for my lawn. I don't see a whole lot about this online overall however. Has anyone used it? What do you think?

I assume I put it down at the same time as other pre-emergents are recommended. I bought a soil temp probe, but how deep are we supposed to measure the temperature? Is there a certain time that soil should be >55 degrees before application? Are websites such as greencastonline a reliable source of this information as well? I appreciate any help.

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turf_toes
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Re: pre-emergent for crabgrass

Post by turf_toes » May 1st, 2022, 9:48 am

They’re not specific to your location. Local conditions, even within a zip code, make such tools little better than guessing (at least in my opinion)

Normally, you should apply preemergent herbicide when you see the (very common) forsythia bush in bloom in your neighborhood.

This link shows it in bloom. It’s pretty plain-looking when not blooming.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lynwood-Gold ... lsrc=aw.ds

kjd
Posts: 4
Joined: April 30th, 2022, 8:50 pm
Location: Western Wisconsin
Grass Type: I don't know
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Novice

Re: pre-emergent for crabgrass

Post by kjd » May 1st, 2022, 11:10 am

turf_toes wrote:
May 1st, 2022, 9:48 am
They’re not specific to your location. Local conditions, even within a zip code, make such tools little better than guessing (at least in my opinion)

Normally, you should apply preemergent herbicide when you see the (very common) forsythia bush in bloom in your neighborhood.

This link shows it in bloom. It’s pretty plain-looking when not blooming.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lynwood-Gold ... lsrc=aw.ds
I think I'm honestly going to go out and buy one of these and plant it somewhere in my yard, because I've never seen one near where I live. I know it won't be helpful for this season, but for future use at least. We have a large neighborhood that I've walked around many miles since moving here, including throughout a several mile trail system in a neighborhood park, and have never seen a Forsythia. I suppose I could go to a local garden store and see if they have any blooming there, but then again that would be an artificial situation I assume.

Assuming I don't find a Forsythia Shrub as an option this year for determining when to put down pre-emergent and have to rely on measuring soil temperature... At what depth should one measure soil temperature? And is the idea to apply pre-emergent when the soil temperature reaches 55 degrees for a few days or when there is sustained soil temperatures above 55 degrees for a few days? Thanks

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turf_toes
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Re: pre-emergent for crabgrass

Post by turf_toes » May 1st, 2022, 1:01 pm

I’ve never had to do measure soil temperature. I would assume it has as much to do with surface temps (we are talking about seed near the surface here for the most part) as subsurface temperature. Generally speaking in the top 1-inch. (Below that and you won’t get much grassy weed germination unless the soil is disturbed l)

But again, I’d defer to one of the soil folks on this question. I’ve never lived anywhere where I couldn’t find local forsythia.

kjd
Posts: 4
Joined: April 30th, 2022, 8:50 pm
Location: Western Wisconsin
Grass Type: I don't know
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Novice

Re: pre-emergent for crabgrass

Post by kjd » May 1st, 2022, 2:17 pm

turf_toes wrote:
May 1st, 2022, 1:01 pm
I’ve never had to do measure soil temperature. I would assume it has as much to do with surface temps (we are talking about seed near the surface here for the most part) as subsurface temperature. Generally speaking in the top 1-inch. (Below that and you won’t get much grassy weed germination unless the soil is disturbed l)

But again, I’d defer to one of the soil folks on this question. I’ve never lived anywhere where I couldn’t find local forsythia.
Thanks for the info. I'll make a post on NextDoor and see if anyone in the neighborhood has one in their yard :mod:

In the meantime, if anyone has any further recommendations on measuring soil temps (i.e. apply pre-emergent when the soil temperature reaches 55 degrees for a few days or when there is sustained soil temperatures above 55 degrees for a few days) it would be much appreciated!

Also, has anyone used Pendulum AquaCap / pendimethalin for crabgrass control?


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MorpheusPA
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Re: pre-emergent for crabgrass

Post by MorpheusPA » May 1st, 2022, 7:04 pm

Surface. Really, if you're seeing daytime highs of 55, you can go. Soil surface temperatures are cresting 55. In western Wisconsin, the time for that was about April 25th.

https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature

These folks also have soil temperature maps. Mine is currently 54 degrees (accurate; we had a recent cold snap).

kjd
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Joined: April 30th, 2022, 8:50 pm
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Re: pre-emergent for crabgrass

Post by kjd » May 2nd, 2022, 9:00 pm

It looks a little weak, but I think I found a Forsythia. I had to drive around about 10-15 miles before I spotted one finally. I guess I can go out spray the pre-emergent tomorrow. After I posted this yesterday I also went grocery shopping and wouldn't you know... There was a Forsythia for sale right when you walk in. So now I got one planted next to my house so I can use it every year from now on ;-)

Image

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MorpheusPA
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Re: pre-emergent for crabgrass

Post by MorpheusPA » May 3rd, 2022, 11:46 am

Yep, that's a (weak) forsythia. For best results, plant in a sunny location and feed like you feed your lawn. Chop back when it gets gangly, they're incredibly forgiving plants.

flyin-lowe
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Re: pre-emergent for crabgrass

Post by flyin-lowe » May 19th, 2022, 12:42 pm

Everything is going up in price. I use Prodiamine on my lawn (about 4 acres). It is the most cost effective stuff I have found for a yard my size. A couple years ago this stuff was around $60.00, now it's around 100.00

https://www.amazon.com/Quali-Pro-Prodia ... 240&sr=8-3

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