Imox Mix

Dead Spots-1008x756.jpg Thanks for the thread. I gave it a try a couple weeks ago with great results so far
Total Acreage: 0.75 ac
Alice white clover, portion planted last fall, portion frost seeded on March 18th
Mix: 26 gallon ATV sprayer, 3 oz Imox,, 8 oz Charge SOC (Keystone Pest)
Sprayed June 1

I didn't take any pre-pics, but both new and old clover was getting a good start before it got a beat down by smartweed and grasses. I think if I had let it go, all the clover would have been gone quickly. Here is a pic of one of the overall plots as it looks today (June 14). The brown spots were once solid patches of Smartweed. The old clover is darker green and thicker in the foreground. The new clover is lighter and sparcer in the back of the plot.
 
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This is a zoom in pic of how it worked in the new clover. Before I sprayed, I had to look for the new clover among the weeds. Now, it looks like it will grow into a nice plot and I don't see any evidence of burning.

I never thought so little could do so much. Impressive stuff indeed. Thanks again.

TIght Pic No Burn-1008x756.jpg
 
The rain shower at 1 hour shouldn't be any problem with the herbicide working. Once an applied herbicide has dried on the leaf it's finished working, the plant has already absorbed what it will absorb and rain won't make a difference anymore. That's why the herbicide application method is so important, a mist that uniformly hits all the leaves of the entire weed will cause the weed to absorb a lot more active ingredient before the spray mist dries than an application that is spraying in droplets and isn't consistently hitting the entire leaf. Spraying in the morning when there's dew on the leaves can also help to get a better kill rate.

MM, this is the first time hearing that spraying with dew still on the plants is a good thing. I've always thought that you were diluting your mix. I've always waited until it's gone and sometimes it's a race to get it done before the wind gets up. Tell me more.....:)
 
MM, this is the first time hearing that spraying with dew still on the plants is a good thing. I've always thought that you were diluting your mix. I've always waited until it's gone and sometimes it's a race to get it done before the wind gets up. Tell me more.....:)

MM will fall over when I say this - and I might have to sign a piece of paper and send it to him - he's right, almost.
Other than thru his personal observation I can provide no evidence that dew helps improve weed kill. What I can do is tell you it's never been a negative in my 10 years of (prior) experience doing commercial applications. When you need to cover a couple thousand acres in a day, you can't let the best part of the day pass. That would be mornings between 5am and noon - before the heat causes winds and thermal currents. I never had a problem.

The question about dew and its affect on spraying and weed control has been the subject of several scientific studies. One considers dew along with six other factors. Dew came in last. The author of the study said, something like, I wouldn't spray if the dew was so heavy the water was running of the plant leaves, but otherwise, dew had no detrimental consequences.

To quote https://agfaxweedsolutions.com/2018/02/06/soybeans-dew-affect-herbicide-performance/
"An article titled “Does dew affect herbicide performance? The facts on the matter” by Dr. Prostko appeared in the Jan. 17, 2018 online Southeast FarmPress. In this article, Dr. Prostko presents his views and supporting documentation on this subject.

He first states that, in his 30 years of herbicide application experience, he has never had a weed control failure because of the presence of early-morning dew. He further states that his herbicide spraying activities have been dictated by wind, which means that those activities usually occur in the morning between sunrise and 9AM when there is less likelihood of a wind concern."
 
MM will fall over when I say this - and I might have to sign a piece of paper and send it to him - he's right, almost.
Other than thru his personal observation I can provide no evidence that dew helps improve weed kill. What I can do is tell you it's never been a negative in my 10 years of (prior) experience doing commercial applications. When you need to cover a couple thousand acres in a day, you can't let the best part of the day pass. That would be mornings between 5am and noon - before the heat causes winds and thermal currents. I never had a problem.

The question about dew and its affect on spraying and weed control has been the subject of several scientific studies. One considers dew along with six other factors. Dew came in last. The author of the study said, something like, I wouldn't spray if the dew was so heavy the water was running of the plant leaves, but otherwise, dew had no detrimental consequences.

To quote https://agfaxweedsolutions.com/2018/02/06/soybeans-dew-affect-herbicide-performance/
"An article titled “Does dew affect herbicide performance? The facts on the matter” by Dr. Prostko appeared in the Jan. 17, 2018 online Southeast FarmPress. In this article, Dr. Prostko presents his views and supporting documentation on this subject.

He first states that, in his 30 years of herbicide application experience, he has never had a weed control failure because of the presence of early-morning dew. He further states that his herbicide spraying activities have been dictated by wind, which means that those activities usually occur in the morning between sunrise and 9AM when there is less likelihood of a wind concern."

X, I appreciate the info. I've never read anything on the subject, just assumed. Just goes to show you that common sense will fail you every now and then. I know one thing for sure, that little tidbit just made my spraying a lot easier !
 
MM, this is the first time hearing that spraying with dew still on the plants is a good thing. I've always thought that you were diluting your mix. I've always waited until it's gone and sometimes it's a race to get it done before the wind gets up. Tell me more.....:)
As farmerdan mentioned, if the dew is so heavy that the spray chemicals are dripping off of the leaves it would not be a good thing, but that would be a rare condition. Food plotters especially often have cheaper spraying equipment such as ATV's that don't have the tank capacity and pump pressure and don't do as good of a job with application of chemicals as the commercial guys have, and therefore get poor chemical coverage on the leaves, plus often not applying spray with the maximum amount of water to save time and water. So the dew on the leaves will help distribute the chemicals a little better on the leaf, and keep it wet a little longer to help absorb more active ingredient into the plant. Not a major difference, but enough to make it worthwhile, especially considering that the time the dew is on the ground is also apt to be the least wind of the day. I consider dew on plants as a condition that gives me several hundred extra free gallons of water that's helping me and I didn't have to haul out there on my atv.
 
As farmerdan mentioned, if the dew is so heavy that the spray chemicals are dripping off of the leaves it would not be a good thing, but that would be a rare condition. Food plotters especially often have cheaper spraying equipment such as ATV's that don't have the tank capacity and pump pressure and don't do as good of a job with application of chemicals as the commercial guys have, and therefore get poor chemical coverage on the leaves, plus often not applying spray with the maximum amount of water to save time and water. So the dew on the leaves will help distribute the chemicals a little better on the leaf, and keep it wet a little longer to help absorb more active ingredient into the plant. Not a major difference, but enough to make it worthwhile, especially considering that the time the dew is on the ground is also apt to be the least wind of the day. I consider dew on plants as a condition that gives me several hundred extra free gallons of water that's helping me and I didn't have to haul out there on my atv.

Thanks to you and X for this info. I have a 60 gallon spray rig that's PTO operated as well as a 25 gallon that I cobbled together that fits in my Ranger bed. The large one for most food plots and the small one for tight places and yard work. Both are boomless so I imagine I'm getting the droplets instead of the mist. They both work well for me though, but this info on the dew having little effect is great news to me. I just sprayed 60 gallons of Cimmaron to kill behia grass on my home place Saturday and the wind was getting up pretty good by the time I finished. I sprayed the open areas first so that I was kinda protected by the time the wind got up, but if I had known, I could have started an hour or two earlier. Thanks again guys !
 
Thanks to you and X for this info. I have a 60 gallon spray rig that's PTO operated as well as a 25 gallon that I cobbled together that fits in my Ranger bed. The large one for most food plots and the small one for tight places and yard work. Both are boomless so I imagine I'm getting the droplets instead of the mist. They both work well for me though, but this info on the dew having little effect is great news to me. I just sprayed 60 gallons of Cimmaron to kill behia grass on my home place Saturday and the wind was getting up pretty good by the time I finished. I sprayed the open areas first so that I was kinda protected by the time the wind got up, but if I had known, I could have started an hour or two earlier. Thanks again guys !

If you play w the pressure of your pto boom less you can achieve a nice fine mist spray. Simplest is reducing pto speed to lower pressure.


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If you play w the pressure of your pto boom less you can achieve a nice fine mist spray. Simplest is reducing pto speed to lower pressure.


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Do you mean spraying at a certain engine rpm ? That's the only way I know to control pto speed. I usually spray at about 2,000 rpm and about 2.7 to 3 mph. Any suggestions as to why that's good or bad ? Kubota M6040 tractor normally in fourth gear. Thanks !
 
Do you mean spraying at a certain engine rpm ? That's the only way I know to control pto speed. I usually spray at about 2,000 rpm and about 2.7 to 3 mph. Any suggestions as to why that's good or bad ? Kubota M6040 tractor normally in fourth gear. Thanks !
Try dropping to 1500 rpm which is where my JD does best . Faster and the spray becomes drops for mine. Don't need maintain pto. speed as you do with a bushhog or tiller. You can also adjust the pressure valve on my sprayer so that is another ways. My JD is hydraulic gearing and I run at 5- 6 mph medium gear and sprays about 20 gal/acre. I spent a little time playing with mine till I was satisfied with the spray.
 
Drycreek...Does your sprayer not have adjustable pressure control valve? The one I bought has one and a boomless nozzle and when I first tried it the pressure was set at 80 psi and it gave the large droplets, then when I adjusted to 40 psi it gave a fine mist. Each herbicide has a certain recommended pressure to spray at per the label btw.
 
Try dropping to 1500 rpm which is where my JD does best . Faster and the spray becomes drops for mine. Don't need maintain pto. speed as you do with a bushhog or tiller. You can also adjust the pressure valve on my sprayer so that is another ways. My JD is hydraulic gearing and I run at 5- 6 mph medium gear and sprays about 20 gal/acre. I spent a little time playing with mine till I was satisfied with the spray.
Drycreek...Does your sprayer not have adjustable pressure control valve? The one I bought has one and a boomless nozzle and when I first tried it the pressure was set at 80 psi and it gave the large droplets, then when I adjusted to 40 psi it gave a fine mist. Each herbicide has a certain recommended pressure to spray at per the label btw.

Guys, I'm kinda a pry bar and sledgehammer type of guy, but I do know that my rig has adjustable pressure. I think my gauge is broken however, but I can look at that and replace if needed. I've never tried to figure my solution by the acre, because so much of mine is irregular in size and shape. Over the years I've been able to get a pretty good idea of how much solution I need from experience. Mostly I spray gly or Cimmaron, and occasionally cleth or MSMA. The Cimmaron only kills behia grass and the MSMA is for killing grasses other than bermuda.

Y'all inspire me to do better though........:D
 
If you play w the pressure of your pto boom less you can achieve a nice fine mist spray. Simplest is reducing pto speed to lower pressure.


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I love talking farm equipment, but they say when you don't have anything good to say shut up. So I won't comment on boomless sprayers.
 
I love talking farm equipment, but they say when you don't have anything good to say shut up. So I won't comment on boomless sprayers.

Lol. Some of us only plant half dozen acres not couple dozen. And it’s not a money making crop. Heck I’ve bent the boomless sprayer on my fimco numerous times going thru the woods. Guess I could slow down but doubt that happen.


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Update of sorts but Kick me for not taking pic but had forum member on tour of my place and we were on mad rush trying to get around the property dodging storms.
Imox had done well on grasses and sedges and most so-called weeds. Process is slow and I think would have been more aggressive in a normal precip year. Constant rain jst sets back kill I think. I’ll try for pic next wk.
Did jump multiple deer and fawns so herd seems to approve so far.


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This is a zoom in pic of how it worked in the new clover. Before I sprayed, I had to look for the new clover among the weeds. Now, it looks like it will grow into a nice plot and I don't see any evidence of burning.

I never thought so little could do so much. Impressive stuff indeed. Thanks again.

View attachment 16100
I checked on progress yesterday and in some of my new clover areas the Smart Weed is making a comeback. I think it has more to do with the clover being sparse than it being new. There was a lot of bare dirt. Does anyone have any advice on a second application of Imox? I sprayed last on June 1st. The label gives warnings about spraying too often but I feel my original spray was on the light side.
 
I checked on progress yesterday and in some of my new clover areas the Smart Weed is making a comeback. I think it has more to do with the clover being sparse than it being new. There was a lot of bare dirt. Does anyone have any advice on a second application of Imox? I sprayed last on June 1st. The label gives warnings about spraying too often but I feel my original spray was on the light side.
Imox is recommended to spray only once/9-12 mo. Perhaps you should look at reasons your smartweed exists so well. It spreads like clover by way of rhizomes i.e. a root lateral growth and is why like clover can be so persistent to resisting chemical kill. Numerous chemicals are used by farmers for its control. It does like wetter soil and lower ph. Perhaps changing soil water retention/flow properties, making sure ph and analysis is up to speed, overseeding with a WR and perhaps some soil busting brassica mixed in or a taproot plant like chicory, then with time soil makeup will change allowing less influx of the smartweed.
Look at the entire picture and not just zeroing in to the problem weed and you might find more success. Good luck.
 
Imox is recommended to spray only once/9-12 mo. Perhaps you should look at reasons your smartweed exists so well. It spreads like clover by way of rhizomes i.e. a root lateral growth and is why like clover can be so persistent to resisting chemical kill. Numerous chemicals are used by farmers for its control. It does like wetter soil and lower ph. Perhaps changing soil water retention/flow properties, making sure ph and analysis is up to speed, overseeding with a WR and perhaps some soil busting brassica mixed in or a taproot plant like chicory, then with time soil makeup will change allowing less influx of the smartweed.
Look at the entire picture and not just zeroing in to the problem weed and you might find more success. Good luck.

I can't say my soil is perfect, but it isn't horrible. Kind of low on PH, which I have been trying to correct for a while. I did the LickCreek rotation for at least 5 seasons (that's why the top end of the field is "new" clover). Unfortunately my deer density is too high. I had success with the WR, but the brassica would get eaten down as soon as it popped. This year I decided to switch over to 100% clover to see if it would hold up better. My smart weed takeover didn't happen until last summer.

I guess the best thing for me will be to just live with the smart weed this year. The older clover isn't infested, so I might actually have enough browse this year. Then, frost seed again next winter and give it all a stronger dose of Imox late next spring.
 
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