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 Post subject: Crab Grass
PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 7:04 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2010 3:43 pm
Posts: 5
Crab Grass (cg) infestation is now horrific in the hill country North of San Antonio. Our augustine yards were virtually killed off in heat wave & drought of 09. I have mix of 60% augustine, 20% crab grass & 20% "other" (weeds & bare dirt). I'm on a gently-sloping quarter acre lot with minimal tree shade (20-30%). Hard rock 18" down ...

What I've tried: Vinegar + molasses weed killer from GardenVille. It yellows the cg & then cg comes back with a vengeance if I don't keep spraying it. I note other writer's idea of Round Up thru a tissue tube. Anything else to consider? ... Thanks in advance: BC


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 Post subject: Re: Crab Grass
PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:23 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:42 am
Posts: 142
Location: Denton, Texas
Fallow the practices for st. augustine and you will have a 100% st. augustine lawn. It really is that simple. Propper watering and mowing height for st. augustine means you will end up with JUST st. augustine. The crab grasses and other so called "weeds" have no chance.


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 Post subject: Re: Crab Grass
PostPosted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:57 am 
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Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2003 3:45 pm
Posts: 2884
Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
The problem is that once the lawn was ruined by the drought, it was thin and the crabgrass moved in. There is a cure, though. I suggested this on another forum and one of the guys took it up as a challenge. It worked like magic. Here are the steps.

Step 1. Spray the crabgrass with a mix of water, soap, and molasses (2 teaspoons of baby wash and 1 teaspoon of molasses to a pint of water.) The purpose is to wet the leaves of the crabgrass. Crabgrass leaves are hydrophobic so you need soapy/sugary water to make the next step work.

Step 2. Dust the crabgrass with baking soda. Put some baking soda into a sock and tap the sides of the sock to filter out a very fine dusting of baking soda. Don't try this on a windy day. You might breathe in the baking soda or get it in your eyes (the change in pH of your tears burns your eyes). If you get it in your eyes, just rinse them or apply "tears" type eye drops.

The reason this works is that St Augustine can tolerate a LOT of salt (sodium). Other grasses cannot. The weeds should die completely within 48 hours. Watch the video to see how he did it and what the results were. He had more St Augustine damage than I have seen but I think he over applied the baking soda. Still, the results are pretty remarkable. On the forum where he originally posted this message, he posted a picture 30 days after the test and the St Aug was filling in nicely.

Click here for video link Kill Crabgrass in St Augustine

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David Hall
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 Post subject: Re: Crab Grass
PostPosted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 9:45 am 
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Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2010 6:39 pm
Posts: 71
Location: Dallas, TX
I've applied the Baking Soda method to the crab grass infestation in my SA & Bermuda mixed turf.

The SA handles the baking soda without a problem.

The Bermuda burns to a dark yellow and dies down to the root. However, completely new growth appears to come back from the rhizomes.

The Crab Grass burns to a black color and dies down to the root. New growth appears to come back from the root center. Some leaves/stems that do not get complete coverage of baking soda only burn in areas and survive intact.

From my experience, the baking soda will hurt crab grass effectively and Bermuda extremely effectively. This method does not result in the elimination of the plants but will stunt them long enough to allow the SA to invade for better control.

I would suggest applying this method only on the outer borders of healthy SA areas to allow the stolons to invade, then in a couple of weeks, hit it again at the new border, eventually working your way deeper into the weeded areas.


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 Post subject: Re: Crab Grass
PostPosted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:31 pm 
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Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
Thanks for your observations EAnton. We need more like that. :D

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 Post subject: Re: Crab Grass
PostPosted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 8:12 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:40 pm
Posts: 195
And to think there's a easy way then getting down on your hands and knees with a bucket and pulling 'em out by hand!! :roll:


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