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*** Pre-Emergent FAQ ***

104,742 Views | 368 Replies | Last: 3 mo ago by Prince_Ahmed
Gordon McKernan
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How about Houston area st. Augustine? My backyard looks pretty bad but i know that is because i missed my application in the fall.

Gary79Ag
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AG
Gordon McKernan said:

How about Houston area st. Augustine? My backyard looks pretty bad but i know that is because i missed my application in the fall.


Here's Neil Sperry's recommendations...

What Is the Right Time for Pre-emergents?
AgCWby90CS
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Gary79Ag said:

Gordon McKernan said:

How about Houston area st. Augustine? My backyard looks pretty bad but i know that is because i missed my application in the fall.


Here's Neil Sperry's recommendations...

What Is the Right Time for Pre-emergents?
So, thinking out loud, here in New Braunfels, roughly 250 miles south of I-20, I need to put pre-emergent out the end of second week of February.......
CWby '90
Gary79Ag
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AgCWby90CS48 said:

Gary79Ag said:

Gordon McKernan said:

How about Houston area st. Augustine? My backyard looks pretty bad but i know that is because i missed my application in the fall.


Here's Neil Sperry's recommendations...

What Is the Right Time for Pre-emergents?
So, thinking out loud, here in New Braunfels, roughly 250 miles south of I-20, I need to put pre-emergent out the end of second week of February.......
Yep, about the 15th of Feb...
Scud Runner
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My hometown Home Depot has their pre-emergent stacked on pallets as you walk in the front door, saying right now is the time to be putting it out (South Texas). Do they have good stuff? Any other recs on where to buy?
Broba Fett
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Good luck applying it in our mudbog backyards right now. I for one haven't even been able to walk in my backyard since November since it refuses to stop raining.
SpreadsheetAg
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For houstonians

Quote:

EARLY GREEN UP TRICKS OF THE TRADE

The best kept secret in lawn fertilization, one that was even kept from me up until two years ago, is the use of a basic 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer in late February/early March. You may recognize the ratio from the GardenLine fertilization schedule mentioned earlier. Only this 3-1-2 is a basic immediate release fertilization. And the best fertilizer I've found for this very purpose is a 15-5-10. But remember it should not have the words slow-release or controlled-release on the bag.

...

PRE-EMERGENT HERBICIDES
I'm not sure whether to talk first about the "weeds to come" or the weeds that may already be up in the lawn. Since most of the weeds that are up now will burn away in the heat of a Texas summer, lets focus first on keeping late spring and summer weeds from being a problem. This too is done during the end of February through the first of March with Pre- Emergent Herbicides. More specifically we are looking for the pre- emergent herbicides to control the grassy weeds that are such a problem from May through July. Weeds like Crabgrass, Goosegrass, Dallisgrass and Johnsongrass.
The only truly effective way to control these weeds is to prevent them from being that problem. Which, if you think about it, means that if you do the pre-emergent right, you'll never need to use a weed-and-feed. And that is the beauty of the pre-emergent herbicide. But it is critical that these pre-emergent applications are put out before the end of March. The best pre-emergent herbicides for February application are Barricade, Pendemethlin, Betasan, Treflan, Surflan. Green Light makes three pre-emergent herbicides for this purpose. One is known as First Down and the other is Amaze.
The third bag from Green Light simply says Betasan. One of the newest pre-emergent herbicides comes in a fertilizer formulation from Fertilome. It is called Fertilome's All Seasons with Barricade. Nitro Phos also has a "barricade only" product this year. This actually kills the proverbial two birds with one stone, in that the Barricade fertilizer's carrier is a 3-1-2 fertilizer, lumped in with the herbicide (refer to early green up section). Finally, the Pendemethlin herbicide comes marketed as Pendulum. In most cases, you will probably need to put out one of these pre-emergent herbicides once again in May, just to be on the safe side and prevent any new weed seeds from germinating June through August.


Gordon McKernan
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Are y'all Houstonians putting down the 2nd spring application around this time? I put my 1st application down mid Feb so i am just past the 90 day mark. Going to tackle it this weekend.

I have yet to put any fertilizer out yet this year.... Usually put some out in March/April timeframe but missed it. Grass is looking healthy though. Wondering if I should put some out right now or wait until until late June/early July as mentioned on Lemmon's calendar?
water turkey
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Putting down Barricade tomorrow in the Woodlands.
Sweet Kitten Feet
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S
I put down dimension today
Ulrich
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Horse herb. I have acres of horse herb. Halp.
Worlds Foremost Ag
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Ulrich said:

Horse herb. I have acres of horse herb. Halp.

I haven't had much luck with pre-emergent (dimension) on horse herb. This year I used Fertilome Weed Out spray on the horse herb in St. Augustine and it worked very well.
FincAg
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It's that time again

Time Is Now to Prevent Winter Weeds!
bobinator
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Off topic, but what time of year do y'all aerate if needed?

We bought a house in April (in B/CS) and were so busy moving in and everything that I basically haven't done anything to the yard yet but we've got a soil compaction problem so I was thinking about aerating but wasn't sure what time of year is the best.
Sweet Kitten Feet
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FincAg said:

It's that time again

Time Is Now to Prevent Winter Weeds!


Seems too early for those of us in BCS. I'm gonna wait towards the last half of September.
cevans_40
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bobinator said:

Off topic, but what time of year do y'all aerate if needed?

We bought a house in April (in B/CS) and were so busy moving in and everything that I basically haven't done anything to the yard yet but we've got a soil compaction problem so I was thinking about aerating but wasn't sure what time of year is the best.

Anytime besides the middle of winter is fine. If it's a little wet when you do it, you may get better penetration.
cevans_40
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FincAg said:

It's that time again

Time Is Now to Prevent Winter Weeds!

Low N and high K for fall apps. Houston & BCS, I can help.

http://www.makemygrassgreen.com
Old School Brother
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where is the best place to buy the halts and gallery granules? farm store? all of the home depot stuff is mixed in with some sort of weed and feed. maybe that's not terrible, just asking if there's a better place to get just the weed stuff.
FincAg
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https://www.domyown.com/pre-emergent-herbicides-c-59_188_387.html

But also places like Bruce Miller's Nursery in Dallas/Richardson. http://brucemillernursery.com/ is where I get the Fertilome Gallery (https://www.domyown.com/fertilome-broadleaf-weed-control-with-gallery-p-2016.html)

So it's your independent gardening and nursery stores. Not sure about the farm stores.

I did see however at Lowe's recently Halt, by Scott's https://www.lowes.com/pd/Scotts-10-lb-Crabgrass-Control/50083006.

But I get Dimension from Brumley Gardens. It is the Bonide brand https://www.domyown.com/bonide-duraturf-crabgrass-and-weed-preventer-for-lawns-and-ornamental-beds-p-21551.html
clobby
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I found Halts at my local Home Depot
babyshark
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Got mine down Tuesday evening. Hope it's been long enough so this rain doesn't wash it out.
saltydog13
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Does it need to be above 90 but below 95 to put out pre-emergent?
babyshark
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I think you'd be safe when it's a cool 88 in the morning or evening...
Sweet Kitten Feet
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In BCS area when should this go down. Neil Sperry was pretty adamant yesterday that this weekend was the latest for ALL of Texas except extreme south. Randy Lemmon says Late October to early November. What are y'all doing and has it been successful?
kubiak03
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Oh man, a sperry vs Lemmon fight to the death.
Cromagnum
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If you are in Houston it's too ****ing hot to waste money on this yet. Wait till October
lawless89
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Put mine out in Fort Worth yesterday.
AGGIE WH08P
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My rule of thumb is Sept 1st is the ideal time for the first fall application. (At least try to apply during the first half of the month). Then let the residual get me to December and apply the 2nd time. Then again in March. And lastly in June. 4 application annually. Sept/March are the most critical IMO. December/June are insurance.

Tip:
Set a reoccurring calendar reminder for each of these dates in your phone/Outlook. Never forget. And buy your yearly needs of pre emerg all at once. So you already have it on hand in the garage!

In DFW area.
Prince_Ahmed
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Sweet Kitten Feet said:

In BCS area when should this go down. Neil Sperry was pretty adamant yesterday that this weekend was the latest for ALL of Texas except extreme south. Randy Lemmon says Late October to early November. What are y'all doing and has it been successful?
Randy Lemmon is a radio/media personality with a degree in journalism who's monetized his hobby. He makes blanket recommendations for his sponsored brands of fertilizer and weed control, while rarely mentioning the idea of testing your soil to see what it actually needs.

Neil Sperry has a master's degree in horticulture and has been involved in education and research for almost 50 years. He rarely makes a recommendation without sending you to get soil tested, or to see a certified arborist or master gardener for a recommendation on your specific application.
Sweet Kitten Feet
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Prince_Ahmed said:

Sweet Kitten Feet said:

In BCS area when should this go down. Neil Sperry was pretty adamant yesterday that this weekend was the latest for ALL of Texas except extreme south. Randy Lemmon says Late October to early November. What are y'all doing and has it been successful?
Randy Lemmon is a radio/media personality with a degree in journalism who's monetized his hobby. He makes blanket recommendations for his sponsored brands of fertilizer and weed control, while rarely mentioning the idea of testing your soil to see what it actually needs.

Neil Sperry has a master's degree in horticulture and has been involved in education and research for almost 50 years. He rarely makes a recommendation without sending you to get soil tested, or to see a certified arborist or master gardener for a recommendation on your specific application.
Which is exactly why I asked y'all what y'all had been doing and what was successful. There seem to be two legions of people on here, the Sperrians and Lemmonites. I've been following Niel, but putting the pre-emerg down just seems so early with how hot it still is so I was curious if others had historically done it at this time and been successful. This is my first year in this house, and first year taking care of st augustine so still learning and asking others for advice.
gigem70
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Do whatever Neil says. I believe he knows how hot it has been.
Gary79Ag
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gigem70 said:

Do whatever Neil says. I believe he knows how hot it has been.
That's what I do and it works! He lives in McKinney and I'm just 35 minutes north of him in Sherman...I follow him religiously...
aka The Legendary *******!!!
sellthefarm
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Generally speaking Neil is talking about Dallas. For Houston you can probably delay a week or two from what he's recommending. The key on the pre-emergent is getting it down before the first cool weather. The seeds germinate based on temperature not by the calendar. He wants it down now to be sure you don't miss the first cool spell. In theory the longer you wait the better, but it's just risky the longer you wait.
Duncan Idaho
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FincAg said:

It's that time again

Time Is Now to Prevent Winter Weeds!

So if I just got back in town and haven't done this...am I screwed?
AgCWby90CS
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Duncan Idaho said:

FincAg said:

It's that time again

Time Is Now to Prevent Winter Weeds!

So if I just got back in town and haven't done this...am I screwed?
from what I've read, since the first cold front has not come, you can still do it.
CWby '90
 
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