Weed be Gone Calculations

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salvas
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Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by salvas » April 15th, 2017, 12:57 pm

I have some doubt regarding the application rates... just want to make sure I am calculating this right.

The label says to use 2.5 fl oz per gallon of water for every 400 sq feet.

My backyard is about 3500 sq feet.

My backpack sprayer is 4 gallons.

So I can use in 1 load of my backpack, 10 oz of product per 4 gallons which will cover 1600 sq feet of my yard.

In order to have the right application for my whole yard, I need:

3500/400 = 8.75 gallons of water

8.75 * 2.5 = 21.875 fl oz of product

All in all, I'll need 2 full loads of my backpack with 10 oz of product each, and then another 3rd fill of my backpack just with 3/4 of gallon with 1.88 fl oz of product.

IS this correct?

Would it be okay for pratical purposes to just dilluted the 1.88flz of the 3rd fill, in the first 2 loads of the backpack or no?

Thanks

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GeorgiaDad
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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by GeorgiaDad » April 21st, 2017, 6:39 pm

Don't dilute it. Measure the 3/4 gal and 1.88 oz.

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HoosierHound
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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by HoosierHound » April 30th, 2017, 8:05 pm

You should only spray the weeds. Surely there are some areas of your lawn that are weed free, so that 3rd tank is probably unnecessary anyway.

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by andy10917 » April 30th, 2017, 8:14 pm

You should only spray the weeds. Surely there are some areas of your lawn that are weed free, so that 3rd tank is probably unnecessary anyway.
That's an awful strong statement. Note that this is in Lawn Basics 101, and it's not unusual to use a blanket application when starting out in Lawn Care.

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by PSU4ME » May 3rd, 2017, 4:06 pm

Your math seems right however i'd like to mention that the per gallon piece of it will be the tricky part. The way you have it set up is that you'll need to apply those 4 gallons over 1600 sqft......thats an awfully slow pace IMO but if thats how you have your spray calibrated then you're all set.

I'm calibrated to do 1 gallon over 1000 sqft and i make my solution to match that.

Good luck!


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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by salvas » May 31st, 2017, 8:48 pm

PSU4ME wrote:
May 3rd, 2017, 4:06 pm
Your math seems right however i'd like to mention that the per gallon piece of it will be the tricky part. The way you have it set up is that you'll need to apply those 4 gallons over 1600 sqft......thats an awfully slow pace IMO but if thats how you have your spray calibrated then you're all set.

I'm calibrated to do 1 gallon over 1000 sqft and i make my solution to match that.

Good luck!
Yes, this was a blanket application for the the 1st phase of the triangle.

PSU4Me thanks for the tip. Well since i am pretty much a newbie, I actually go pretty slow. I think 1 backpack took me 3 passes of the yard. I went in a criss-cross fashion ... I rather do it this way for now to ensure it spreads equally nice.

IT took me 6-8 passes in total - I know i know lots of time consuming. I will need to play with calibrating it... how to do you calibrate a backpack sprayer ? Do i need to just pump more with my handle?

Ill have to check how to calibrate it... what would be a good pace that is a bit forgiving but maybe not as precise as yours? 2 gallons?

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by PSU4ME » May 31st, 2017, 10:12 pm

The easiest way is you mark off a 25'/40' area of a driveway (safe parking lot or what have you) and practice applying 1 full gallon over that area. This way you get a feel for what it takes to keep a solid pressure in the pump as well as your walking speed. This way you'll calibrate yourself to the sprayer and vice versa! The trick will. E repeating that same "pace" when you spray.

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by Charley » May 31st, 2017, 11:00 pm

A different nozzle / tip can allow a higher flow rate, if you can keep the pressure up.

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by salvas » June 1st, 2017, 12:18 am

PSU4ME wrote:
May 31st, 2017, 10:12 pm
The easiest way is you mark off a 25'/40' area of a driveway (safe parking lot or what have you) and practice applying 1 full gallon over that area. This way you get a feel for what it takes to keep a solid pressure in the pump as well as your walking speed. This way you'll calibrate yourself to the sprayer and vice versa! The trick will. E repeating that same "pace" when you spray.
ok gotcha... but what about for example Weed be Gone that specifically said 1 gallon per 400 sq feet with 2.5 oz of product?

how could i modify it in order to accomodate a faster pace? does it matter the dilution with water or what matters is just the product?

Because if the label asks for 1 gallon per 400 sq feet how could i per your instructions make 1 gallon on 1000 sq feet?

could i mix 10 oz of product on 1 gallon of water and the spread it around 1000 sq feet?

The amount of product would be as per instructions, however, dilution would not be as great...not sure if that matters at all.

Charlie, yes I was already using the fan tip

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by PSU4ME » June 1st, 2017, 7:49 am

What you need to concentrate on is the fact that the label wants 2.5oz spread over 400sqft (I'm assuming that's what the label reads per your statement). The 1 gallon part is just the carrier or how you get it there. So you "could" use 7.5oz in one gallon if you can evenly spread that over 1,000 sqft. That would treat that 1,000sqft appropriately.

On the flip, you could put that same 7.5oz in 3 gallons as long as all 3 gallons go over the 1,000 sqft. Follow?

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by salvas » June 1st, 2017, 9:19 am

PSU4ME wrote:
June 1st, 2017, 7:49 am
What you need to concentrate on is the fact that the label wants 2.5oz spread over 400sqft (I'm assuming that's what the label reads per your statement). The 1 gallon part is just the carrier or how you get it there. So you "could" use 7.5oz in one gallon if you can evenly spread that over 1,000 sqft. That would treat that 1,000sqft appropriately.

On the flip, you could put that same 7.5oz in 3 gallons as long as all 3 gallons go over the 1,000 sqft. Follow?
The label actually stated "2.5 oz of product per every gallon spread over in 400 sq feet"

Thats why it took me longer since I stuck with instructions.

Like you mentioned before, I usually dillute around 1-1.3 gallons per 1000 sq feet in other products (I use the 4 gallon of my backpack sprayer for 3400 sq feet).

But with this one, because it specifically said "2.5 oz per gallon per 400 sq feet" I actually followed the rules afraid of messing something up...

Im aware that most times what matters is the amount of product put on and water is irrelevant (serves only as carrier)... but in this case, no idea!

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by g-man » June 1st, 2017, 9:34 am

^ i don't fully agree for WBG. WBG is meant to be absorbed by the blades/leafs. I assume it includes something to make it stick to the blades. Getting the correct quantity of ai per sqft is the first priority, but extra water (ie. double the label rate) could cause two problems. First there is so much extra water that it runs the mixture down the blade into the soil. This will yield less ai being absorbed. Second, you will be also diluting the stickler material, so less ai sticks to the blades.

The extra water will be ok when applying liquid items to the soil (ie. Prodamine). For WBG it is best to follow the label recommendations for water to concentrate ratio.

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by PSU4ME » June 1st, 2017, 11:02 am

Just a small edit to my note above, it wouldn't be 7.5oz over 1,000 sqft, it would be 6.25 oz, my bad!

G-man, I agree with the larger water volume making it run more. I just never really see a label that says use x amount of product and apply it with y amount of water over a set sqft. Maybe they are trying to make it easy for a homeowner.

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by g-man » June 1st, 2017, 2:27 pm

Page 5 of the label says: "add 2.5floz per gallon of water for every 400 sqft." It is very clear.

http://www.ortho.com/smg/goprod/ortho-w ... cale=en_US

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by PSU4ME » June 1st, 2017, 3:41 pm

g-man wrote:
June 1st, 2017, 2:27 pm
Page 5 of the label says: "add 2.5floz per gallon of water for every 400 sqft." It is very clear.

http://www.ortho.com/smg/goprod/ortho-w ... cale=en_US
Yeah not disagreeing that the label says it, I was more saying that most labels i see is around product per sqft vs applied with x amount of water.....i think some say a minimum of x amount.

So if i'm applying 6.25 oz over 1k sqft (label rate) and use only 1 gallon of water to apply it, is the harm that its not diluted enough or am I reading into this too much? Is there a harm in it or make it more effective because it coats more of the leaf if its diluted appropriately?

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by g-man » June 1st, 2017, 4:05 pm

Please remember that this is the 101 forum. Lets keep it simple. The recommendation should be to follow the product label.

Using less water than called for has the risk of applying too much ai to the good grass you want to keep alive. It is also explained in the label that you could kill your lawn doing this. Also, using less water runs the risk of running out of mixture before you get the coverage. Again, stick to the label recommendations and if possible do a spot treatment instead of blanket.

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by salvas » June 3rd, 2017, 2:39 pm

it might have been because what i used was the bottle for weed be gone to be used with a hose... since i already had those, and they had the same concentration etc... i just opened that bottle and used it in my sprayer... maybe the regular concentrate one doesnt has that verbage...

let me check:

Yup it says the same.... which is weird. I agree that all products i have seen only state X oz per Y feet ...

Well since the blanket spray was done and I barely have any weeds now, 1 gallon with 2.5 oz of product should be more than enough for spot spraying the yard.

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by andy10917 » June 3rd, 2017, 3:02 pm

Show us a picture of the sprayer that you poured the RTU (ready-to-use) product into, please. (I think everyone knows where I am going).

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Re: Weed be Gone Calculations

Post by salvas » June 7th, 2017, 9:20 pm

andy10917 wrote:
June 3rd, 2017, 3:02 pm
Show us a picture of the sprayer that you poured the RTU (ready-to-use) product into, please. (I think everyone knows where I am going).
Hey Andy... it was one of these: BBcode for images seems to be off... only link

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5KivVcX5oCQ/maxresdefault.jpg

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