I just read an article yesterday that said baking soda will help kill crabgrass without killing the rest of your lawn. Is anyone able to help verify this?

Do you know which species of crabgrass you have? I don't think they mean treat the whole lawn but spot treat the crabgrass. In our area crabgrass is only an annual so will be gone anyway soon. In Florida in this article where they tried a baking soda product (killed tops but not roots so they resprouted) apparently there are annual and perennial crabgrasses.

http://collier.ifas.ufl.edu/Co...

I think I have two different types of it.

It's awful, isn't it, Christina? I sure know! I don't know what kind I have, but I'm ignoring it until next spring when I hope it's all gone. Then I'm planning to use Treflan as a pre-emergent on it. If it works, I'll have to re-seed the lawn!

I believe those two grasses roots dont die.
Pre.emergent to kill seeds good. But the existing grass needs to be eliminated.
Dug out.or spot treat with round.up while still actively growing.

I spent a good part of a day pulling it out of my lawn.

Put pre-emergent down now and again in spring.
I did that for awhile and had it mostly controlled; I stopped and it came back with a vengence.

Philipwonel said:I believe those two grasses roots dont die.
Pre.emergent to kill seeds good. But the existing grass needs to be eliminated.
Dug out.or spot treat with round.up while still actively growing.

Yuck!! I may need 650 gallons of round up! It is sure actively growing....

Barbalee said:

Yuck!! I may need 650 gallons of round up! It is sure actively growing....

There is powdered forms of crabgrass killer that work well.
If you use liquid use the hose spraying type and make sure it is dedicated for crabgrass.

Crabgrass seeds lasts for many years so you must treat even if you do not see any for awhile.

Any guess what the powdered form is called? It would be easier than liquid! And I have massive crabgrass problems!!

Barbalee said:Any guess what the powdered form is called? It would be easier than liquid! And I have massive crabgrass problems!!

Bonide and Hy-Yield are two brands that pop into my head off-hand.

Go to a Garden store, Farm store or hardware store as they should have some brand in stock.
If you have one I would start with the farm store.

Before you apply cut your grass as short as your lawn mower will allow it will work better usually, at least it has for me.
Crab grass is annual so getting the seeds onto the ground where the killer/preventer can hit them is better than if they are dangling in the air on a branch but they sprout as long as their is war weather.

Do you get sub-freezing temperatures down there? If so, it will be gone after the first frost and won't return until the weather gets fairly hot next spring. The best way to control crabgrass is to mow your lawn a little higher and water less often but more deeply. The herbicide most often used as a pre-emergent against crabgrass is Pendimethain. One of the more common brand names is Scott's Halts Crabgrass Preventer.

RpR said:
Bonide and Hy-Yield are two brands that pop into my head off-hand.

Go to a Garden store, Farm store or hardware store as they should have some brand in stock.
If you have one I would start with the farm store.

Before you apply cut your grass as short as your lawn mower will allow it will work better usually, at least it has for me.
Crab grass is annual so getting the seeds onto the ground where the killer/preventer can hit them is better than if they are dangling in the air on a branch but they sprout as long as their is war weather.

Thank you RpR!

KentPfeiffer said:Do you get sub-freezing temperatures down there? If so, it will be gone after the first frost and won't return until the weather gets fairly hot next spring. The best way to control crabgrass is to mow your lawn a little higher and water less often but more deeply. The herbicide most often used as a pre-emergent against crabgrass is Pendimethain. One of the more common brand names is Scott's Halts Crabgrass Preventer.

Thanks, Kent! Yes, we get sub-freezing, but what I'm reading here tells me the roots will still be growing underground. Not so?? That's what this thread says, but I thought it would be gone after winter and I'd just have to be ready with pre-emergent. Now I'm totally not sure what to do!

In most areas crabgrass is an annual, the whole plant dies but comes back from seed the next year. According to this Texas page it is annual there:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu...

Having said that, some people use the name for quackgrass which actually is perennial and survives below ground in the winter. So it's important to know which grass you have.

A herbicide that works well for crabgrass is Dimension if you choose to go the "chemical" route but I don't know whether it is available to homeowners in Texas or how much it costs there:
http://www.dowagro.com/turf/pr...

Well I looked it up on Amazon, not inexpensive!

Thank you, Sue! I'd just as soon go with the pre-emergent. I've waited this long that I might as well wait to use pre-emergent and see if the terrible stuff comes back!

The corn gluten meal works if applied at the correct time of year.
http://garden.org/ideas/view/c...

Or brand name products such as Scotts Turf Builder which is (I think) 99.75% corn meal gluten:
http://en-ca.scotts.com/smg/go...
http://en-ca.scotts.com/smg/CA...

Edited to add a link.

Barbalee said:Thank you, Sue! I'd just as soon go with the pre-emergent. I've waited this long that I might as well wait to use pre-emergent and see if the terrible stuff comes back!

Dimension is pre- and post- but you have to get the timing right. Unless it comes in smaller sizes it's pretty expensive for home use even if labeled appropriately.

Barbalee said:

Thanks, Kent! Yes, we get sub-freezing, but what I'm reading here tells me the roots will still be growing underground. Not so?? That's what this thread says, but I thought it would be gone after winter and I'd just have to be ready with pre-emergent. Now I'm totally not sure what to do!

The plant in your picture is smooth crabgrass (Digitaria ischaemum) and it's an annual. It's growth really slows down
once nighttime temperatures start to dip below 50F, and one good frost will finish it off. Once it has been frost killed, you likely won't see it again until soil temperatures rise to around 60F next spring. Like I said above, the most efficient way to deal with it is to change how you mow and water your lawn, but there are a number of herbicides that people commonly use as well.

This link is from Illinois, but it contains good information for anyone dealing with crabgrass.

http://extension.illinois.edu/...

Barbalee said:Thank you, Sue! I'd just as soon go with the pre-emergent. I've waited this long that I might as well wait to use pre-emergent and see if the terrible stuff comes back!

Seeds remain viable for a long, long, long time.
You can treat for years and think, I got it , no need to treat.

Within two years you will probably get some back and if you do not deal with it, it gets worse quickly.

I have dealt with it for decades and I still have not learned my lesson well enough yet.
I still pull it by hand if I really want to deal with it best and then treat the lawn.

I'm taking Greene up on corn gluten and Kent on the Illinois information. You guys are awesome!