Best time of day to spray weeds?

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halfbean

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What is the best time of day to spray pastures for weeds? I am spraying Pastureguard and Remedy on goatweeds, bullnettle, blackberry etc.
 
halfbean":f5d1czw6 said:
What is the best time of day to spray pastures for weeds? I am spraying Pastureguard and Remedy on goatweeds, bullnettle, blackberry etc.

This is a very interesting publicaion that I have followed and found to be very accurate:

http://appliedweeds.cfans.umn.edu/pubs/timeoday.pdf

You have to spray when the plant is actively growing and able to absorb the active ingredient in Round-up, Liberty and similar products.

I would imagine the principles apply to any leaf-contact herbicide compared to soil-based herbicide.

Jim
 
I've noticed much better results when spraying fairly early in the morning. When it warms up the herbicides dry to quickly for them to get well absorbed. (That's my theory)
 
I also have found mornings are better time to spray. The best are overcast and very still. when the sun does hit the plant or foliage it usually will be the last healthy day it has.
 
Like hillrancher I spray in the morning when the wind is less than 3 MPH and will get good absorption in the weed.
 
I prefer to spray in the early morning or late evening provided it's not too windy, which is the big issue for us. For instance, this morning morning at 4:30 the wind was blowing at 15 mph with gusts to 25. By the time you factor in working a full time job and weather conditions, I generally do my spraying in the late evening - the wind has usually calmed, there's no dew, and the temps are cooling off.
 
I like mornings, don't spray on wet leaves. Might get some dripping before drying. Anytime is fine as long as the spray can dry, and calm or light breeze only.
 
Douglas":367cxl9m said:
Do you wait for the dew to dry?
Depends on how heavy the dew is. If it's just light I go ahead and spray if it's a really heavy dew I wait till later in the morning or wait for another day
 
Texas Gal":bc53btfv said:
I prefer to spray in the early morning or late evening provided it's not too windy, which is the big issue for us. For instance, this morning morning at 4:30 the wind was blowing at 15 mph with gusts to 25. By the time you factor in working a full time job and weather conditions, I generally do my spraying in the late evening - the wind has usually calmed, there's no dew, and the temps are cooling off.

Wind can be a bigger factor in spray performance than time of day.

All else being equal, spraying in the afternoon when the plant is aggressively growing is more likely to give you a better weed kill. But if all else is NOT equal then you do it the best you can and low wind is very important.

But that was not the original question.

Jim
 
mnmtranching":2wvnyb9x said:
I like mornings, don't spray on wet leaves. Might get some dripping before drying. Anytime is fine as long as the spray can dry, and calm or light breeze only.

Ditto on the dew. Dew will mess it up bad.

Extension agent just told a friend of mine not to spray in the mornings when its humid. He and I discussed this and we both disagree with what he said. Don't undertand his reasoning at all. To me, if its hot and you a spraying a fine mist there will be some evaporation that is going to occur thus effecting your coverage. I wish I had been there cause I would have pushed the subject more than my friend did.
 
I think their is more chance of drift (fumes) on the still humid mornings. Or something like that.

I guess it depends on how close your neighbors tomatoes are. :shock:
 
1982vett":3uqqzuig said:
I think their is more chance of drift (fumes) on the still humid mornings. Or something like that.

I guess it depends on how close your neighbors tomatoes are. :shock:

We discussed this and both agree that if he was spraying gramoxone or something like that drift would be a major concern under these conditions but the extension guy was referring to Roundup. Either we are missing something here or he knows something we don't know. Unfortunately my buddy is not one to press an issue and he just let it pass.
 
The best time to spray is anytime the air is still. That's usually early or late. My opinion is that dew has a positive effect on herbicide efficacy- owing to capillary attraction. I wouldn't spray after a rain, but with dew on the leaves I wouldn't hesitate and would prefer to spray at that time rather than later.
 
halfbean":69l4rx1c said:
What is the best time of day to spray pastures for weeds? I am spraying Pastureguard and Remedy on goatweeds, bullnettle, blackberry etc.

Have always tried to spray early in the morning on still days. Also spray in early spring when the weeds I'm trying to kill are still young and tender.
 
ga. prime":1ycnfamy said:
The best time to spray is anytime the air is still. That's usually early or late. My opinion is that dew has a positive effect on herbicide efficacy- owing to capillary attraction. I wouldn't spray after a rain, but with dew on the leaves I wouldn't hesitate and would prefer to spray at that time rather than later.

It may depend on what you are calling a dew. If you can shake a bush or a leaf and it will form droplets and run off I have found this to be just the opposite. A light dew maybe. Reason I say this is that I was spraying a hot herbicide mix that had a tendency to walk so I was extremely concerned with wind but the days stayed windy. Best time seemed to be morning but then I only had a few hours before the wind picked up and what I was spraying was really effective on cotton and soybeans. :nod: To remedy this, I got there early in the morning and there was a heavy dew on the brush. Heavy enough to wet your pants if you walked through it but no wind. I sprayed one tank before the dew dried and to this day you can see where the division line is and this was 8 years ago.
 
Jo, you're without a doubt correct that there can be too much dew for effective spray applications of herbicide. If the target foliage is wet from dew as if it had been rained on, there will be too much leaf runoff of the spray solution. On the other hand, a light dew coupled with a light spray will yield excellent results. Good judgement is a necessity. :D
 
ga. prime":vlkstxii said:
Good judgement is a necessity.

Unfotunately some of my best education is due to poor judgement. ;-) :lol2: But at least I didn't kill any cotton on that job cause I'm sure it would have been some of the most expensive cotton in the world if you know what I mean. :nod:
 
The for sure thing is. The more of the spray that gets on the leaves and dries on the leaves the better the results. :nod: No dripage and no driftage. [mnmt words] :???:
 
mnmtranching":tfa38655 said:
The for sure thing is. The more of the spray that gets on the leaves and dries on the leaves the better the results. :nod: No dripage and no driftage. [mnmt words] :???:

I think a lot of people try to get by with spraying as little water as possible. I might do this with insecticides but on herbicides I like to put out at least 20 gal./acre and sometimes 40 to insure good coverage on the plants. I like to spray to the point of where it almost runs off the leaf. JMO
 

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