How do you control nutgrass?

louise · August 1, 2010

Does anyone know what can be used in vegetable gardens to kill nutgrass? Many weed killers say do not use in vegetable garden soils and to keep it as organic as possible.

b54red · August 1, 2010

You can fence it off and put in hogs and they will root it out. Other than that I don't think anything will really get it out that is safe to use in the garden. Roundup will help control it but it will not get rid of it. I've had it for years in one flower bed and it has moved aggressively into my lawn from there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by louise

Does anyone know what can be used in vegetable gardens to kill nutgrass? Many weed killers say do not use in vegetable garden soils and to keep it as organic as possible.

August 1, 2010

I used to have good results with a product called "Image". It is advertised as useful for the control of all grass type weeds. It works very well to control crabgrass. I used to use it on my lawn and it would selectively kill crabgrass and nutgrass with no harm to the lawn grass.

Ted

Talon1189 · August 4, 2010

The best way to control "nutgrass" is to get on your hands and knees with a cheap "sponge brush" and paint the leaves of the nutgrass with "Roundup"....I would recommend the "full strength" version and NOT the diluted cheaper version of the same

...this avoids any overspray but takes more time to apply. Patience is the key here........"full strength" here is the key for your labor.......Good luck as nutgrass is a very tough weed to defeat in both the lawn grasses as well as in the garden

>>>>>>>>>>Talon

tomakers · August 5, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talon1189

The best way to control "nutgrass" is to get on your hands and knees with a cheap "sponge brush" and paint the leaves of the nutgrass with "Roundup"....I would recommend the "full strength" version and NOT the diluted cheaper version of the same

...this avoids any overspray but takes more time to apply. Patience is the key here........"full strength" here is the key for your labor.......Good luck as nutgrass is a very tough weed to defeat in both the lawn grasses as well as in the garden

>>>>>>>>>>Talon

We use a lot of RoundUp in our commercial cranberry operation. It SHOULD NOT be used full strength. Dilution is necessary for the best results. If memory serves me 4:1 is the maximum that should be used. Using at the full strength kills only the top of the plant. It needs to be absorbed into the roots to really kill it. In my garden I just keep pulling it out, as I hate to use Roudup on my food.
JMO,
Tom

remy · August 5, 2010

It is not a quick fix, but it is a safe organic one. If you pull it out and keep at it, you can defeat it. I have won the siege of the sedge(as I like to call it) doing this. It takes persistence and you can't get lazy about it.
Remy

b54red · August 5, 2010

Remy, down here where the nutgrass pops up every day or two by the hundreds pulling is not practical or effective unless you can give it a couple of hours every day and dig up the nuts which are anywhere from 3 to 7 inches under the soil. I did this for two summers and it was a losing battle because once it gets going good you just can't get all the nuts out of the ground. Roundup will work but it has to be applied over and over and it is very hard not to get it on your crops.

August 1, 2010	#1
louise Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: southern part Posts: 23	nutgrass Does anyone know what can be used in vegetable gardens to kill nutgrass? Many weed killers say do not use in vegetable garden soils and to keep it as organic as possible.

August 4, 2010	#4
Talon1189 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Farmington, Michigan. Zone 5b/6a Posts: 421	The best way to control "nutgrass" is to get on your hands and knees with a cheap "sponge brush" and paint the leaves of the nutgrass with "Roundup"....I would recommend the "full strength" version and NOT the diluted cheaper version of the same ...this avoids any overspray but takes more time to apply. Patience is the key here........"full strength" here is the key for your labor.......Good luck as nutgrass is a very tough weed to defeat in both the lawn grasses as well as in the garden >>>>>>>>>>Talon __________________ Always looking for a better way to grow tomatoes ..........

August 5, 2010	#6
remy Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest™ Coordinator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Z6 WNY Posts: 2,354	It is not a quick fix, but it is a safe organic one. If you pull it out and keep at it, you can defeat it. I have won the siege of the sedge(as I like to call it) doing this. It takes persistence and you can't get lazy about it. Remy __________________ "I wake to sleep and take my waking slow" -Theodore Roethke Yes, we have a great party for WNY/Ontario tomato growers every year on Grand Island! Owner of The Sample Seed Shop

August 1, 2010	#3
tedln Guest Posts: n/a	I used to have good results with a product called "Image". It is advertised as useful for the control of all grass type weeds. It works very well to control crabgrass. I used to use it on my lawn and it would selectively kill crabgrass and nutgrass with no harm to the lawn grass. Ted

August 5, 2010	#7
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Remy, down here where the nutgrass pops up every day or two by the hundreds pulling is not practical or effective unless you can give it a couple of hours every day and dig up the nuts which are anywhere from 3 to 7 inches under the soil. I did this for two summers and it was a losing battle because once it gets going good you just can't get all the nuts out of the ground. Roundup will work but it has to be applied over and over and it is very hard not to get it on your crops.