Flower Bed Weeds

[Shark1611]

Originally Posted by psparaco I have used RoundUp Weed & Grass Killer. Its rainproof in 10 minutes. You spray or foam what you want to kill. visible proof in 4-6 hours the plant on the surface turns brown and is dead. Complete kill of the entire plant, roots and all within 1-2 weeks. I swear by the stuff. My sidewalk is weed/grass free in the cracks. No more weedwacking the darn cracks and wasting time. check out the product label here -> http://www.scotts.com/smg/products/r.../PNGRefill.pdf Landscape fabric sucks cause weeds find a way to grow through it. It doesn't matter how much mulch you put in the flower bed. Weeds and grasses will find a route to sunlight and heat. If you do not want plants in a flower bed to be treated. Take some cardboard and shield the plant while you spray the weeds you want to kill. within 1-2 weeks the weeds will be dead and will breakdown into compost for the soil. Hope this info help. Paul Thank you so much for the information. I will try this again. Have a great week!

[Shark1611]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by Rodriguez11 Check into a product called Ranger Pro herbicide. I buy mine from the local farm supply store, as in a real one that is straight herbicide and straight fertilizer no gimmicks and added ingredients. This one is two ingredients, Glyphosate and something else. But it's extremely concentrated and will save you so much in the future. I bought 5 gallons, 2 (2.5) gallon bottles for $70 vs buying something like spectracide from Lowes at $15 for a 30oz bottle (That is $64 a gallon) so 5 gallons of spectracide would run $320 for something you can get for roughly $70 dependent upon if it's in your area. Something to think about because it is major major savings and a really good product, takes about 4oz of solution per 5 gallons of water for typical maintenance spraying. Thanks for the information. I do not need a lot so I will check this week.

[Shark1611]

Originally Posted by MountainViewGreenskeeper

Unless it rains alot I find Round up to be a waist of money. Buy just Glyphosate, it usually has more of the active ingredient(Glyphosate) and way less. Round Up usually has a rain fast witch means it won't wash of in about an hr or 2 of dry time.

I would highly suggest getting a penatrant weather it be no foam A no foam B or magnify, or something to that extent.

Also consider using Trimec 992 or the classic they work better in colder weather I found. Also it mix ratio is lower then Glyphosate but about same price for 2.5 gallons.

If your local landscape shop don't carry it look for a pest control supply shop. A weed is a pest.

I have used the Trimec and has not done as well as MSMA but then again maybe I do not mix it strong enough. I also used Dove with it.

[Shark1611]

Do any of you have a ball park that you work with on round up spraying? I think I should of included this in some of my homeowner custmers but did not.

So what I do is now and then a bed might need a small amout of round up while another may need more to spray over a rock driveway, etc. It's hard for me to know what to charge so I feel like I am throwing darts.

What about 1/4, 1/2, 1, gallon charge? It would be easy to do it this way because I always know how much I used after walking off the property but mark up is hard to know what is a fair price.

[MountainViewGreenskeeper]

Is that all you are doing on the property is spraying?

If so check with you OPM for your state and see if you can legally spray. In AZ spray a weed killer like that has to be a secondary action on a yard not a just there to spray. Then you fall under pest control guide lines.

Aside from that statement I would charge a minimum of like $30 $40. I know it is propably over priced for the little things you are doing but don't cheat yourself buy charging the $10 $15 it should cost you. Then again its probably $15 $20 if you are still using round up.

[druda22]

* BE EXTREMLY CAREFUL WHERE YOU USE IT, THIS WILL MAKE THE SOIL UNUSEABLE FOR A COUPLE MONTHS, AND THIS WILL KILL ANYTHING IT COMES IN CONTACT WITH *

Ingredients

1 gallon of white or distilled vinegar
1 cup of salt
2 tbsp liquid dish detergent unscented

Instructions

1. Pour one gallon of vinegar into an all-purpose, outdoor sprayer, or any container of your choice.

2. Add one cup of salt. Morton Salt works nicely, but any brand of salt will also work great

3. Add two tablespoons of liquid dish detergent. Ivory liquid dish detergent, or any other detergent will work. However, try to stay away from the scented detergents.

4. Mix all ingredients together by stirring. If you have combined the ingredients in a lawn and garden sprayer, put the lid on securely and shake to mix.

5. Spray directly onto weeds or you can pour directly into the cracks of walkways and driveways where weeds are growing.

How each ingredient works.

Vinegar

Vinegar is distilled through a fermentation process from grain, apples, or grapes. Common household vinegar has an active ingredient called acetic acid, usually diluted to a 5% concentration. This may be labeled as 5% acidity.

Acetic acid, like most strong acids, is a desiccant. That means it removes moisture. When sprayed on plant foliage, the water in the leaves is drawn out, and the top growth of the plant is killed. Whether or not the root is killed depends on the type of plant and its maturity.

The strength of the solution of acetic acid determines how fast and how completely it will kill weeds. Full strength vinegar, not diluted with water, will be strongest. Vinegar with higher acidity is available, though it is not commonly found everywhere. A serious caution on using stronger vinegar in a home made weed killer formula, or for any household usage, will be presented later.

Vinegar is not selective when it is sprayed on plants. It has the potential to kill any and all foliage. This means that if you spray weeds in your lawn, your grass will die as easily as the weed. If you spray weeds in your flower bed or vegetable garden, the good can die as well as the bad. As a home made weed killer, vinegar will have limited application, and will require that valuable plants be protected.

Some plants may be more resistant to absorbing it. Leaves with a waxy or hairy covering may absorb less of the solution and suffer less damage. Some plants may die above ground, but send up new growth from the root. This means that you will not get 100% control using vinegar as a home made weed killer.

Salt

Many of the homemade weed killer recipes include salt. Most suggest regular table salt, some say water-softener salt, others mention rock salt. Salt is salt. Salt kills plants. It may be added to some recipes to kill the plants when vinegar alone won’t.

Salt also acts as a desiccant, drawing moisture out of the plant. Most recipes are intended for use as a foliar spray. A few will instruct you to drench the soil around the weeds, expecting to kill the root more successfully.

Salt is problematic. It will get rid of your weeds, but also anything else nearby. It will hang around, leaving you with long term difficulty when you want to grow desirable plants. You may have heard the term “burned a plant with fertilizer”. That is because regular fertilizer is a salt. Apply it too heavily and plants die. Salt can remain in the soil, even affecting roots from distant plants.

If your desire in wanting to use home made weed killer is because you want natural products, instead of chemicals, don’t use salt as a weed killer. It defeats the effort of trying to develop healthy soil.

The one exception might be if you are spot treating weeds that pop up in cracks in your driveway, patio or sidewalks. Just use it sparingly, as it can leach into the area where good plants live.

Soap

The soap added to these formulas for homemade weed killer is primarily to improve the absorption of the spray. Liquid dish detergent (not dishwasher or hand soap) is the most effective at this.

Soap is able to break down the cuticle or waxy surface found on many weeds. This makes the plant more susceptible to the action of the active ingredient, like the acetic acid. Soap also breaks the surface tension of water, which helps it to stick to the leaves, rather than running off. This allows more of the killing agent to hang on and get working.

Soap is usually an oil derivative. Oil kills plants. Some soaps might kill plants themselves if they were applied in a strong enough concentration. A sideline benefit of adding the soap is that it is easier to see where the spray goes. The weeds will look shiny, as if coated with oil. This helps keep track of the sprayed area.

These results provide good reason to add soap to a home made weed killer. The amount of soap required as an additive would be small, no more than 1 ounce per gallon. As a sole ingredient to kill weeds, the concentration would have to be much higher

* USE THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. *

[Shark1611]

What or how do you guys go about charging for spot weed kill. Like drive ways, side walks, spot areas in beds? Calculate for price or just toss it in for your customer at N/C? Over a year this would cost you big time. Thoughts?

[Steve]

What is your view of 'spot'? How much product do you think such spot treatments could use up in a year?

[Shark1611]

Originally Posted by Steve

What is your view of 'spot'? How much product do you think such spot treatments could use up in a year?

I do not know how to figure it other than I can go through about a gallon a week just spraying a weed in a bed here, or one in the drive way there. I spot spay the ones I can see.

[willshome]

I used the
"1 gallon of white or distilled vinegar
1 cup of salt
2 tbsp liquid dish detergent unscented"
all last year with no problems and did a side by side test with round-up, and the mix worked better

I know some one that got a $1,000 fine for having roundup on his trailer with no paper work for it (msds)