Crabgrass Prevention??

[troyisu]

I am debating on when to apply my yearly dosage of crabgrass prevention. I've read on the internet that when soil temps get to 60 degrees for a period of 3 to 5 days straight, that s*** germinates.

The ISU Extension has a nice little website showing daily soil temps in Iowa and I saw that we are at 58 degrees right now. I am thinking of applying now, but don't want to apply too early to where the effectiveness is minimal by the time that stuff really pops up.

The place that I purchased it from said anytime in April, but I'm wondering if I should go ahead and apply now.

Has anyone applied already or have some insight for me??

[wartknight]

I've got the Scott's crabgrass preventer and I'm waiting for it to get dry enough to put on.

[GMackey32]

Because of our abnormal winter, our soil temps are a little warmer than usual. Using ISU extension's resources, I'd say it'd probably be safe to apply it now.

[ISUAgronomist]

If soil temps are actually that high I would apply it. The goal is to kill the germinating seed prior to emergence. If you wait for some to pop up, you are applying too late.

[NobodyBeatsCy]

I always buy and apply, but really wonder if the damn stuff really works. Plus, it's $53 a bag

[chuckd4735]

I've got it growing in my backyard right now like crazy...is it to late to take care of it now?

[wartknight]

question for any pros or semi pros- Should I mow before I apply or wait a couple days after applying to mow?
Does it matter?

[CykoAGR]

If soil temps are actually that high I would apply it. The goal is to kill the germinating seed prior to emergence. If you wait for some to pop up, you are applying too late.

Looks like they are really close as of yesterday. I put mine down last night in between the rain showers. I would get it done ASAP.

[aauummm]

If soil temps are actually that high I would apply it. The goal is to kill the germinating seed prior to emergence. If you wait for some to pop up, you are applying too late.

Just to be sure I had mine applied two weeks ago. I put out grass seed a month ago and it has germinated and is about 1 1/2 inches tall. This is in Altoona.

[ISUAgronomist]

Looks like they are really close as of yesterday. I put mine down last night in between the rain showers. I would get it done ASAP.

I'm in Texas so I didn't know local conditions. With that map I'd be applying for sure.

[CykoAGR]

I've got it growing in my backyard right now like crazy...is it to late to take care of it now?

If you buy a pre-emerge product and apply it to an already growing plant it is a complete waste of $$. If its already growing you will need a post emerge product.

[ISUAgronomist]

I've got it growing in my backyard right now like crazy...is it to late to take care of it now?

"Crabgrass preventor" products are preemergence herbicides. It's too late for those to be effective.

[CykoAGR]

I'm in Texas so I didn't know local conditions. With that map I'd be applying for sure.

I always forget to look to see where people are from

[ISUAgronomist]

I always forget to look to see where people are from

Yeah, our soil never stayed below 50 this year.

[Buster28]

If you buy a pre-emerge product and apply it to an already growing plant it is a complete waste of $$. If its already growing you will need a post emerge product.

And there are few post-emergent products that do much of anything of note. Last year I got my crabgrass preventer down early enough and barely had any pop up over the summer. I only had to hand pull a few of the weeds by the sidewalk where seeds from the neighboring yards collected. Put the new stuff (Scott's $20 bag covered my front and back yard nicely) down just before the rains this week and am hoping I get the same results as before.

As for products to use over the course of the summer, the Spectracide bottle you hook up to a garden hose has worked for me before. It keeps dandelions down also. I would avoid using anything for this made by Bayer - tried them before and they're total crap.