organic weed killer for lawn

19 years ago

I found this on some other forum...also corn gluten is supposed to prevent germination of the seed of crabgrass and other seeds if used in spring and fall...over the years it prevents re seeding of this annual grass...then if this following recipe works, you should be finished with crabgrass....let us know if it works!

RE: Organic weed killer for lawn

Posted by: chompstick (My Page) on Sat, Jun 5, 04 at 13:19

A local landscaper recommended an organic crab grass killer, and my extension office verified it. Mix an 8oz box of baking soda with a gallon of water and spray on the crab grass. I tried it and it works!!

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Comments (9)

Iowagal
19 years ago
OK I'll give it a try.
ironbelly1
19 years ago
"...an 8oz box of baking soda..." is defined as organic??? Am I missing something here?

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3).

It sounds to me that the end result is a poisonous concentration of sodium. Is that what you really want?

IronBelly
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The dollar weed is the one you have worry about first. There are three kinds of plants that grow in lawns. One is classified as grass or your target turf grass (these include common lawn grasses like turf type fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, St Augustine, hybrid bermuda, centipede, zoysia). Another is broadleaf weeds (clover, dichondra, pennywort, spurge, horse herb, black medic, creeping charlie, and others). The third category is grassy weeds which do not tame well (sedges (nutgrass and ), Johnson grass, crabgrass, common bermuda, barnyard grass, annual bluegrass, goose grass, and others). The broadleaf class of weeds are the bane of St Augustine lawns because they will easily shade out new growth. The St Aug will thin out fast and disappear in just a few months. With grassy weeds, the coarse blades of the St Aug usually shade them out. Fortunately there are different kinds of chemicals which kill the different kinds of plants. Broadleaf weeds are killed by the 2-4,d chemicals in Weed-B-Gone. Unfortunately St Aug is sensitive to 2-4,d also. Most plants are killed with atrazine but St Aug is not. I have not heard of penoxsulam, but then I don't pay much attention to herbicides. There is also Grass-B-Gone and Sedgehammer for the other weeds. Again, unfortunately, lawn grasses are killed by the Grass-B-gone product. The one good herbicide specialist is Sedgehammer. You might try the penoxsulam in a small spot as a test. Otherwise look for something with atrazine. Occasionally you see it as I described above. Your middle picture looks like crabgrass compared to St Aug, but it is the wrong time of year for crabgrass. I'm going with centipede. It looks like St Aug in many ways but it has pointy blades where St Aug has a boat-tailed shaped blade at the end. Simply taking care of the lawn with water and fertilizer will kill the centipede. Here is a picture of the two grasses. Then the prescription is to get a broadleaf weed killer that is safe for St Aug. My comment about this not being the time of year to kill weeds has to do with the plants not being in a fast growth state. You can try it. It could be your area is warm enough that everything is growing. I would fertilize with organic fertilizer, wait 3 full weeks, and then spray. You want the weeds to be growing and healthy before spraying. In the mean time raise your mower all the way up and weld it in place. There is never any reason to mow St Aug lower than full height. And keep the water off as much as you can.
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buttercupia
Original Author
19 years ago
Here's another post I found on the Organic forum:

Posted by: Apcohrs z5 IL (My Page) on Thu, May 6, 04 at 16:16

True crabgrass is an annual - therefore corn gluten meal works well since it inhibits seed germination.
However, it is not an instant cure - the populations will decrease over time. CGM works less well on perennial weeds (doesn't kill current ones - mere prevents reseeding of new ones.)
another will follow
buttercupia
Original Author
19 years ago
RE: Ornaic weed killer for lawn
Posted by: Althea z4 MN (My Page) on Fri, May 7, 04 at 7:28
Here's another interesting post from the organic gardening forum..these are in response to someone who didn't want to expose their children to weed killers which many people put on their grasses. They may be worth a try for those who would like to try an alternative to harsh poisons on their lawns...Just passing them on for ideas..Of course, too much baking soda wouldn't be very good in one place for the soil..although it is a fairly harmless substance in small quantities...since we eat it in our food.,

According to Dr. Elaine Ingham, crabgrass can't tolerate calcium, so mixing egg shells into your soil should help to eliminate it.
winebob
19 years ago
I can say that CGM worked wonders in my yard. I can also confirm it takes time. This is the third year of using it and the results this year are really remarkable - crabgrass is nearly nonexistant.
tomoviedo
16 years ago
Baking Soda is found in everything living and is in your blood stream in ample quantities to keep your body's pH at a perfect 7.4 (+/- 0.05). So it's safe. There's not too much sodium. I don't know how it works. Probably kills it with osmotic pressure that the St. Augustine grass can tolerate.

Even more dangerous, though, is the material you mix it with... DHMO (http://www.dhmo.org). It's killed millions and linked to countless man-made and natural disasters. So be careful!

I haven't tried this, but have tried the Agralawn product. Works good. I also tried some Azolux my friend had left over. I miss that stuff.
prairiegal
16 years ago
Anybody know of a more local source for the meal? I mean, one would think that in IOWA there would be plenty of options, instead of ordering it from organic supply companies in CA, or whatever!

Is this something I could just go into my local feed store and ask for without them laughing themselves sick, for instance? I've already been humiliated when I asked for alfalfa meal, for some reason (it's a good source of nitrogen)...
webhund
16 years ago
Here's an ISU horticulture page that will give you a lot of good, verifiable information, including local sources.

http://www.hort.iastate.edu/gluten/

I would suggest that you find a licensee located closest to you, call/email them, and then find out who their local distributors/retailers are in your part of the state. Remember that this is a product that is produced in bulk by the licensees, then shipped to local distributors, who may or may not be retailers. If the distributor isn't a retailer, then you have one more link in the supply chain to follow. It's really just matter of starting at the top and calling/emailing your way down to a local source. Good luck.
prairiegal
16 years ago
Great! There's one just about 40 miles from me. Thanks so much!

organic weed killer for lawn

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organic weed killer for lawn

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Iowagal

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