Paraquat

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triple'S'

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anyone use a parquat product? I think it is used mostly by row crop farmers. I know you have to have a licience to use it. Just wondering about application rates and expense. Supposed to be a quicker kill than roundup?
 
Doubt this will be of much help...but I remember using Paraquat some twenty years ago as a defoliant on cotton.

Van
 
Paraquat, sold as Gramoxone Max and now Gramoxone Inteon are usually used as preplant burndown. It is very effective and does provide a quicker dessication of plant material. Generally is more expensive than say roundup by several $/acre. It is also kinda nasty stuff to handle, so most applicators prefer RU. Far as I know is is effective on pretty much everything, have used it to take out mixed grass stands before and it was almost 100% effective on all the grasses and a few broadleave weeds.
 
thanks you know what the application rate is to take out a pretty thick mixed grass stand?
 
1.5-2.7 pints/acre is what the rate is for a preplant burndown, I think it would maybe be a little higher for a crop removal.
 
It is a contact herbicide and kills all plant tissue it touches. However, it will not killl weeds if they are above a certain size. If they are too big, the plants will be defoliated and then grow back in a few weeks. In that case, roundup would be a better choice. I don't remember the rate we spray with but I am sure it can be found on the label and those are available online.
 
it was used in Mexico on marijauna(sp) when the war on drugs first started early - mid 70's?
 
Running Arrow Bill":b7mq30dx said:
Please excuse my stupidity...(or naivete') However, wasn't Paraquat what they use in Nam as a jungle defoliant???
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Yeah I'm pretty sure it was. They called it AGENT ORANGE. Be very careful with it! I know a guy who died from messing with it. Turned his lungs to leather. It will burn but doesn't do a good job killing.

P.S What exactly are you tring to kill? If it is to redo a pasture or hay field use a high rate of roundup and add some ammonium sulfate to the mix. This is cheap and effective.
 
BASE INGREDIENT IN AGENT ORANGE= 2-4-D. That's coming from a Dod contractor who wrote an article in the local paper about cleaning up what's left of agent orange.
 
NorCalFarms":2s45i6zr said:
Paraquat, sold as Gramoxone Max and now Gramoxone Inteon are usually used as preplant burndown. It is very effective and does provide a quicker dessication of plant material. Generally is more expensive than say roundup by several $/acre. It is also kinda nasty stuff to handle, so most applicators prefer RU. Far as I know is is effective on pretty much everything, have used it to take out mixed grass stands before and it was almost 100% effective on all the grasses and a few broadleave weeds.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's kinda dangerous to handle. Signal word "DANGER" and they sure mean it! I've used in cotton to burn up weedy fields for easier picking. For the money, espcially nowdays, RU is the way to go. Wouldn't bother with it for anything other than toasting weeds ahead of a cotton picker. Cheaper, easier, and safer to just use RU.
Good luck! OL JR :)
 
Herefordcross":3mhk9wv9 said:
BASE INGREDIENT IN AGENT ORANGE= 2-4-D. That's coming from a Dod contractor who wrote an article in the local paper about cleaning up what's left of agent orange.
Click to expand...

I thought Agent Orange was 2-4-5-T or was that just another of the components?
 
milesvb":2g8d8rkc said:
Herefordcross":2g8d8rkc said:
BASE INGREDIENT IN AGENT ORANGE= 2-4-D. That's coming from a Dod contractor who wrote an article in the local paper about cleaning up what's left of agent orange.
Click to expand...

I thought Agent Orange was 2-4-5-T or was that just another of the components?
Click to expand...

I heard that the cancer causing stuff in Agent Orange was DIOXIN. Don't know what all was in it though.

Paraquat works by rupturing the cell walls. It causes some kind of imbalance in the cell that makes the cell draw water in from the roots until it ruptures. At least that's what I read once. That's why it works so fast. The plants get a 'wet' look to them a few hours after spraying and start to wilt down pretty soon after. It's strictly a contact material and doesn't translocate much at all if I remember right which is why it only kills smaller weeds (because they're still pretty tender) and just defoliates and burns the stem ends on larger weeds. The tougher stems are more resistant to cell rupture. Grasses and weeds with a lot of leaf are are more susceptible than weeds with fewer leaves and larger stems like pigweeds and long stems like morningglories. The paraquat acts as a neural inhibitor in the human body, almost like a nerve agent, which is why it's so dangerous if you get dosed. If I remember the label says the antidote is atropine injections and filtering the blood through a clay medium to remove the chemical. I only used it a couple years and was REAL careful with it everytime. Low pressure spray nozzles, little/no wind, sprayed low and slow and wore a respirator.
We switched to using Aim for dessicating cotton fields when it came out. OL JR :)
 

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