Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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Weedwacker
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Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by Weedwacker » February 23rd, 2017, 2:39 pm

I have Torpedo grass taking over part of my St. Augustine Lawn. What's the best approach to get rid of the Torpedo grass? I've so far tried Round Up applied with a paint brush (impossible task), Celsius WG and Image with Atrazine, but haven't had any luck.

I've attached a couple of pictures below. On the one of the lawn you can see a small yellowish spot in the top left corner where the Torpedo grass seems to have died off and the few St. Augustine shoots were still green when I inspected it. I'm not sure why that patch seems to have eradicated the Torpedo grass.

Image
Image

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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Re: Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » February 24th, 2017, 2:34 pm

I believe torpedo is a variety of bermuda called coastal elsewhere.
Try this. Pull up a strand of it and dunk it into a bud vase half full of RoundUp. I used the extra strong (42% ??). Let it sit there for a few weeks to take up the RU. The idea is that since the grass is connected by both stolons and rhizomes, the RU will travel back from root node to root node and kill large swaths of it all at one time. This works like a charm with bind weed. I took out a 30 ft diameter disaster all at once. The hardest part is keeping the bud vase upright for several weeks. I wedged one in among some cactus growing nearby.

Weedwacker
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Re: Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by Weedwacker » February 24th, 2017, 3:16 pm

That is a REALLY good idea! I'm very excited to try this method.

It sounds like you are using Round Up Super Concentrate with 50.2% Glyphosate. I have the 18% Glyphosate bottle with 0.73% Diquat Dibromide added which might work. On my bottle it says "visible results in 12 hours", but I wouldn't think it would kill the weed quicker than the super concentrated Glyphosate otherwise it wouldn't have time to distribute for weeks?

I'll be off to the store later to get a bud vase, thanks a lot for your tip.

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andy10917
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Re: Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by andy10917 » February 24th, 2017, 6:16 pm

Somewhat a "yup". Diquat can fry the top of the weed sometimes, without enough translocation to kill the weed's roots. Nice for quick visual but not for completing the job...

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Re: Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by Billy » February 24th, 2017, 9:12 pm

Like th bothers have said, there really isn't a good selective option for torpedograss control in St. Augustinegrass. Torpedograss is not a bermudagrass relative (bermudagrass is in the Cynodon genus; torpedograss is in the Panicum genus). I wouldn't spend time trying to paint or wick herbicides on anything -- it just seems to take more effort and not really make better results.

For this problem, I would spray your favorite glyphosate product (mix to the standard 1% concentration -- adding more won't kill it any faster or deader) and spray a square or rectangle large enough to encompass the affected area and then a little more. You'll need 2-3 apps each 1 wk apart. Then, be ready to plant sod or plugs in the area once you've killed off the torpedograss. Go ahead and use the glyphosate + diquat product if you have it. There won't be any noticeable reduction in efficacy from it.

This problem isn't insurmountable, just know that it's going to look worse before it looks better. Good luck!


Weedwacker
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Re: Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by Weedwacker » February 27th, 2017, 2:06 pm

I've dug a bud vase half way into the grass in the middle of the problem area, filled it with 50.2% Glyphosate and I put a couple of feeder roots in there. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll work.

If I don't see any visible results in a few weeks, I'll go ahead and apply Round Up as suggested by Billy.

Thanks for the tips and teachings!

Torpedoed
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Re: Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by Torpedoed » June 23rd, 2017, 11:05 am

Hi Weedwacker - would like to know, did it work? I saw this thread but there was never any follow-up to say if it worked or not. If it worked, awesome I'll try it in my torpedo-choked out beds. If it did not work, were you able to get rid of your torpedo grass - and how?

Thanks from down 'da bayou!
Weedwacker wrote:
February 27th, 2017, 2:06 pm
I've dug a bud vase half way into the grass in the middle of the problem area, filled it with 50.2% Glyphosate and I put a couple of feeder roots in there. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll work.

If I don't see any visible results in a few weeks, I'll go ahead and apply Round Up as suggested by Billy.

Thanks for the tips and teachings!

lksium19
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Re: Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by lksium19 » September 29th, 2018, 8:20 pm

I would also be interested in knowing if the bud vase worked! I decided to just try it for myself in a few spots in my yard, fingers crossed!

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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Re: Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » October 3rd, 2018, 1:25 pm

I'm interested, too, since I suggested it. I am all for using RU where needed, but also for minimizing the amount where I can.

Rydog
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Re: Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by Rydog » August 17th, 2020, 6:29 pm

Did anyone in this thread find out if the bud vase method worked to kill torpedo grass?

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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Re: Torpedo grass in St. Augustine Lawn

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » August 20th, 2020, 1:25 pm

Rydog, I would be surprised if it did not work at least on some of the torpedo. It is a low cost option with high payoff when/if it works.

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