This is hot off the press. Folks in Florida (including a county agricultural extension agent speaking off the record) are using a light dusting of baking soda on crabgrass in their St Augustine turf to kill the crabgrass. Apparently it takes a week and the crabgrass turns black and dies leaving the St Aug unharmed.

Now, if we could just find a way to rid ourselves of Dalis and nut sedge as easily

Sounds like a plan to me. I'll give it a shot in our yard, although I've found that the crabgrass has gotten less and less each year we've been organic already.

I posted the same message over on lawns. Howard replied and suggested using potassium bicarbonate to see how it works. Great idea. He also suggested using it on all the weeds. Well, I don't see why not.

Personally, I need more success stories before I'm going to go ga-ga over it. But if the success stories start rolling in, I will go ga-ga.

I wonder what's the best application method?

Possibly, suspending it in water and spraying it would work.

At first I though adding it to the current weed killing combo (mild soap, 20% acidity vinegar, orange oil) then I remembered my elementary chemistry. Vinegar + Baking Soda = WHOOSH!

Maybe alternating them might have an interesting effect.

Great! Do you think it would work in common bermuda? I've tried corn gluten meal as a preemergent and vinegar, but it just keeps coming back worse every year.

I don't believe that corn gluten meal will help control Bermuda because it spreads to a great extent by rhizomes and stolons. My guess is that the CGM pushes the Bermuda growth/spread rather than restrains it. CGM works as a pre-emergent on seeds, but it isn't generally effective on rhizomitous plants as far as I know.

I have and would like to keep bermuda in my backyard, the crabgrass though seems to be taking over a section. will this treatment kill the bermuda?

how light is a light application?

The application method I read about was to fill an old sock with the powder and beat it against the crab grass. That's a pretty light dusting.

I would think there would be no effect if used on bermuda.

Bermuda can be encouraged by short mowing or discouraged by mowing high. The higher you mow the more discouraged the bermuda gets. Then I suppose if you talk ugly about the bermuda it will get even more discouraged

Your talk ugly comment got a chuckle.
I was at Sea Worlk last week and while giving instructions about how to behave around the dolphine pool the man said, "...insults to the dolphine will not be tolerated".

We laughed and joked about that all day.
" Na Na Na Na - you gotta long nose."
" Na Na Na Na - your moms is a fish"


oh well - guess ya had to be there.

Jim

I have done little to my crabgrass this year... too busy with a new business to spend hours in the yard each week but since i like organic fertilization I spread a LOT of Corn Gluten Meal in the spring - I didn't believe it would kill the crabgrass but knew it would do good things to my Bermuda.... Guess what? 1/4 the crabgrass i had last year - the stuff flat works.

hey this is pretty cool,,,thats my product i think that yall are talking about!

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