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Dallas, Oregon

Any resent history on using Preen for weed control.
My patch is full of grass each year, need to do something.
Thanks for your insight

8/19/2023 12:33:40 AM

Syracuse, NY

My dream is to have a cover crop of even one type of plant, even a short-growing grass that will replace the unwanted grass(es) that may be of numerous types and heights.

No help here, but killing the old with Glyphosate/Roundup and
re-planting heavily before too late might establish what I'm saying.
If you till anything under it should be killed likewise or it's
just gonna come back.

There are plenty of seed companies that have bulk quantities.
I don't like the idea of having anything in the soil that COULD limit anything about my plants, but that is just me.
This is just a tidbit. Follow all others' advice as it appears---eg

8/20/2023 1:28:06 AM

Syracuse, NY

You can also, in the meantime, type in
preen
in the Site Search window at your top right of your screen
and there is a decent amount of prior posts about it and others. Good Luck---eric g

8/20/2023 1:34:15 AM

Syracuse, NY

number of prior posts

8/20/2023 1:35:59 AM

Western NY

Andrusz is using preen

8/20/2023 8:55:00 AM

Bethlehem CT

I Have never tried it but many farms around me use pree-mergents with there pumpkins.

8/20/2023 10:20:21 AM

Bethlehem CT

My guess for a time efficient (lazy) grower like myself. The benefits would probably out weigh the negatives.

8/20/2023 10:21:53 AM

Wisconsin

If you understand how these products work, you will be reducing root development, is it enough to matter, I don't know. I hate weeds, its seems ANdrusz is having some luck with it, so maybe I need to try it.

8/21/2023 3:06:20 PM

Iowa

The way I've understood how it works is that it inhibits seed germination with little effect on plants. That being said have only used it in spots in the regular vegetable garden and not in the competition patches yet that have vining plants. Getting confidence that it would have little effect on started plants as any weeds that do germinate in the places I've used it don't show any signs of getting stunted at all. Also had PB's on some root vegetables that used some preen around this year as well.

8/21/2023 7:28:24 PM

Hadley Ny

I did a little research on Preen and then called them directly. They have 3 types of weed preventer and only one is recommended for kins. Preen Natural Vegetable Garden Weed Protector. Needs to be applied monthly. The other two I was told will keep the secondaries from growing..also that was said about other veggies and fruits that rely on secondaries. Forgot what she told me but it is 100% organic. Not sure what people are using but dont order the wrong kind.

8/23/2023 1:34:11 PM

Boscawen, NH

Big T is correct in that Preen is just a company name and that they sell different pre-emergence herbicides. All of them are fine for a fully established plant (every node rooted) but not on a developing plant. I actually think their natural preen is the biggest gamble. We had a grower here in NH use it (maybe a bit excessively) and he could not get a side vine to develop on his plants for almost 3 years. Main vines grew because they were started in pots and developed roots.The ingredient in that is corn gluten and it will not leave the soil until fully broken down by microbes. They say that is approx. 1 year but here in NH where microbes are dormant for 3/4 of the year it is more likely 2-3 years before it is out of the soil.

8/24/2023 10:10:28 AM

Eas Canton, Ohio

I used the regular preen last year, (My first year growing giant pumpkins) after my plant was in the ground i sprinkled it around. Plant grew to 350 sq ft and 1086 lbs. I dont know if that helped me or not but this year my plants are 3 times the soze and very similar pumpkin weights. I will be using regular preen in 2024.

9/6/2023 6:31:11 AM

Bethlehem CT

I cut and pasted this off the Umass website. Corn gluten meal - Corn gluten meal is a by-product of the wet-milling of corn in the production of corn starch and corn syrup. Because of its high protein content (about 60% by weight), its historic use has been as an animal feed. Its associated nitrogen concentration of about 9 to 10% N also makes it a fertilizer. The carrier of the nitrogen is the proteinaceous fraction of the corn grain; several dipeptides in this fraction comprise the active ingredient that imparts some of its preemergence herbicidal activity by inhibiting root growth at germination.

Research suggests that the herbicidal activity is greater in dry environments than in areas where soil moisture for plant growth is adequate. Product application rates for turf are 10 to 20 lbs per 1000 sq. ft. of corn gluten meal applied twice a year, with one product suggesting two applications of 75 lbs per 1000 sq. ft. The 75 lb per 1000 sq. ft. rate would deliver 13.5 to 15 lbs of nitrogen per 1000 sq. ft. and be a rate that would be considered environmentally irresponsible. Some studies report crabgrass control ranging from 50 to 60% the first year and as much as 90% control after three consecutive years of use.

9/6/2023 4:35:41 PM

Bethlehem CT

It is often disputed as to whether the control achieved with corn gluten meal is associated with the inhibitory characteristics of the compound or simply the competitive nature of a well-fertilized turf. An experiment conducted at the University of Massachusetts evaluated corn gluten meal applied at two labeled rates and equal amounts of nitrogen from three organic and three synthetic turf fertilizers over a three-year period. Corn gluten meal and each of the six fertilizer treatments provided good control of crabgrass compared to no fertilization treatment in the experiment, suggesting that the efficacy from corn gluten is associated mainly with the nitrogen that it supplies to the turf. Corn gluten products are much more expensive than traditional preemergence herbicides and can be cost prohibitive when large areas are treated. Corn gluten is considered to be an organic control option.

Author: Randy Prostak

9/6/2023 4:35:51 PM