dandelions

[FeartheDeere]

Hey, do you guys know if you can stop dandelions with a granular fertilizer? If so, what's the name? I'm in Indiana if that helps. thanx.

[FeartheDeere]

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HELLO??? anybody home? A short answer is all I'm askin for!

[GroundKprs]

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Uhhh........the fertilizers I'm accustomed to cause things to grow. They don't stop anything.

[CCLS]

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Fearthedear,

You can't stop or prevent dandelions with fertilizer. What you need to do is get a product that controls broadleaf weeds, since dandelions are broadleaf weeds. Some granular fertilizers are mixed with granular broadleaf control. Although it does work somewhat, I have found that the best type of broadleaf weed control is to apply it in liquid form and apply fertilizer in granular form. Try 2,4-D as a postemergent control the product name is Trimec. Hope this helps.

[Fvstringpicker]

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Kevin:

Are you perhaps talking about a "weed & feed" type fertilizer.
If you go with a post-emerg herbicide, my recommendation is Lesco 3Way
It's formulation is for broadleafs and is primarily 2/4D ,dicamba, and mccp. Hence the name "3Way". BTW, make sure you have the proper state licenses before you start putting it, or any pesticide, down.

[qualitylandscaping]

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Use the Lesco product FVstringpicker said...

or

Scotts Turf Builder + 2 weed control


I have used both and had great results...

go to http://www.scotts.com/index.cfm?poeSiteId=10926&partnerId=99999&fuseacti on=annualProgram.

Sleep time![]

[FeartheDeere]

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Thanx a bunch guys...Have you ever heard of momentum, or Speedzone from PBI Gordon? A guy mentioned he was going to use these products this spring...just testing he says. Later! Can't wait till spring!

[qualitylandscaping]

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Kevin,

I haven't heard of any of those...

[Fvstringpicker]

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Kevin:

Are you talking about Lesco's Momentum weed and feed. Never used it but the a.i. tells me it's worth a try. Follow the labeling. Personally, I'd go with Lesco 3 way or plain 2/4 d. Don't mean to be harping, but I want to mention the applicators license again. Most all states require license to put down weed and feed.

[mariner]

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I have heard of momentum. It is sold by Lesco. It's probably what i'll buy this year to start with. Last time I was at their store, they talked highly of it. It was about 80.00 for 5 gallons. If your lisenced you could also check out a product called tri-power. Dandelions don't stand a chance. It'll knock out creeping charlie in two apps. Check out this web page for some good info:
http://www.riverdalecc.com/

[GroundKprs]

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If you fellows were properly educated, insured and licensed, there would not be such ignorance of products. Please also check http://www.lawnservicing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2084 for more detailed comment.

You're taking a risk, and risking the well being of your clients and neighborhoods by starting to play with pesticides in this manner.

[FeartheDeere]

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GroundKprs,

I hope you feel so much better than all of us being "properly educated" and all. I'm ok with CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and even encourage it, but the criticism w/o the constructive part is you going for an ego trip. We're all here to help each other out on this forum, and while everything said on here shouldn't be applied immediately without some research and communications with authorities, it is an oh so useful tool on getting the opinions, experiences, and knowledge of other to help yourself out. []

[Fvstringpicker]

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Kevin:
Although Groundkprs is a little strightforward, he's basically correct in warning about improper use herbicides. Keep in mind that improper use is any application where all factors are not being considered. At the risk of insulting your intellegence, just identifying the target weed and selecting a chemical is not sufficient. You have to be concerned about non-target plants, including chemical mobility in the soil, hazards to yourself, other humans and animals, proper application rates, and on and on. I mentioned proper licensing in my earlier post. If you don't have a license, don't apply pesticides. Getting caught is expensive. Damaging the neibors property is worse. A little drift or runoff and it can easily happen. If you don't have a license and you choose to apply herbicide anyway, please find someone with a license to instruct you and read and follow the labeling.

[FeartheDeere]

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I never said his advice was wrong, I mean I think it's wrong the way he presents it. I'm inquiring of training and exam sessions at Purdue University this spring, but my county agent is kind of worthless because he doesn't know the answers to my questions and only prints out the pages of websites for me. That I could do at home while saving gas from going to the extension office.

[GroundKprs]

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Don't blame the extension agent. The cooperative extension service covers a lot more than just turfgrass, and it is unlikely you'd luck into a local extension officer whose expertise was turf. In fact, you'll usually find just one extension turfgrass specialist on staff of the service, and he is most likely stationed at Purdue campus. There are also specialists for insects, diseases, etc.

But they cannot give each individual the complete education he needs to properly diagnose problems and handle and dispense pesticides. There are educational settings and organizations for this. In IN, the licensing authority is the Office of Indiana State Chemist (www.isco.purdue.edu/); they can help you with licensing concerns. But it is not their job to educate you.

If you go to Purdue Pesticide Programs (http://www.btny.purdue.edu/PPP/), you'll get to the meat of education. Their publications page has a few hundred pages of info on pesticide use in numerous publications.

Then you can go to http://www.isco.purdue.edu/IPLLA_Information.htm to get contact info for the Indiana Professional Lawn & Landscape Association. The IPLLA works in the initial training and testing for the 3b RT(turf) pesticide trainee license. They also run continuing education in field days and seminars through the year.

There are some web publications that do help with what pesticides to use on what pest. The ones you want to trust are generally associated with state extension services. Find links to all states' extension at http://www.reeusda.gov/1700/statepartners/usa.htm .

If one wants to go into pesticide application for hire, it takes a bit more education than cuttin' grass. And while you can get down your grass cuttin' routine in a couple of months, you are going to spend years learning pesticides. Mainly because if you are going to use them right, you need to know all about the target pest first. Joe Homeowner can run into Wal-Mart and grab a bottle of weed killer to nail his dandelions - and he keeps on nailing them year after year. Someone doing this as a business better know when, where, what, how much and how to apply to control dandelions. And you have to keep learning, because things change every year - yeah, just when you find the magic bullet for all your weeds, they quit making it, LOL.