Before I go and try to remove a Bahia Grass infestation in my turf, I'm wondering if Glyphosate will be effective if I apply it only along the stalk that the seed-head grows out of? There is a lot of surface area as they are 1ft tall.
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2 Answers
It's possible and definitely something to test. Glyphosate, from what I read, is supposed to be absorbed through the actively growing portions of the plant. Whether a seed stalk is absorbent enough or not, I can't tell you. My thinking is that it might not be. A seed stalk is meant to be tough enough to stand upright under the weight of the seeds and get them high enough to disperse, while transferring nutrients to grow the seeds. The leaves of plants are designed more to absorb morning dew, which would help them take in the poison.
If you test it and it works, you could try putting the chemical, mixed properly if it's a concentrate, in one of those reservoir handles with a sponge on the end. You can get them for $1 at the dollar store. They're meant to hold dish soap so you can wash your dishes with out having to get more soap. You could load it with your poison, the sponge would load up without dripping, you could tape it to a stick so you didn't have to bend over and then just walk along your problem areas, rubbing the sponge on what you wanted to kill. This might help you target your problem areas without affecting the grass you don't want to harm.
Just remember that when dealing with chemicals, wear protective gear, like rubber gloves or anything else you deem appropriate to safely handle chemicals. I would wear long pants you can wash and real shoes to keep it off your feet, not flip flops. You may walk through where you dispersed it. Also, dispose of all of it appropriately, not where unsuspecting people or animals can come into contact with it. It's serious stuff. Good luck.
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I tested this by making a mix of 6mL Glyphosate / 100mL Vegetable Glycerin in a squeezable bottle. I wore washing up gloves and covered my gloves in this poison and covered 50 or so stalks from top to bottom in it. Will report back in a week. Mar 22, 2016 at 0:50
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That sounds great. It's good that you're testing multiple stalks so you can get a good sample of how many it works on. Just make sure you know which are which. You may get 50 more stalks grown up in a week if it's warm enough and you might not be able to tell which ones you treated.– DaltonMar 22, 2016 at 12:15
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This works but it seems like either it's slow acting or a higher concentration is required. Mar 27, 2016 at 21:51
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1@LukeAllison without any extra active ingredients Glyphosate alone can often take over a week to show visible effects. Anywhere you see a Glyphosate application showing rapid impact it has likely been mixed with another herbicide to speed up the process. Mar 28, 2016 at 1:47
This doesn't work in the standard concentration. Doubling it did the trick but this is nowhere near as effective as spot application on the leaves. Perhaps adding detergent to the mix will help break through the wax coating.
answered Nov 24, 2016 at 1:37