# Liquid OR granular Pre-emergent: which is more effective?



## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Gooooood morning, all!

Gotta question as I always relied on granular pre-emergents until the last 2 years and, now that I know I need to apply diothipyr, I am curious:

WITHOUT ANY CONSIDERATION AS TO COST, which is typically more effective, liquid or granular pre-emergents?

I ASSume liquid but, with the square footage I'm dealing with, it takes a minimum of eight (8) four gallon tank fulls using a backpack sprayer and given the hill and dale I'm confronted with, I can easily see where my "humping" non-stop for a day will no longer be practical. (One of my knees is talking real loudly to me after yesterday's, um, "workout!" :shock:

Unfortunately, the hills I have have made a sprayer on wheels a non-starter (pushing / pulling a tank full of liquid up and down and worst of all, across steep grades is even more work than humping a backpack ...) and the tight spaces I have rule out use of any tow behind.

No, despite all the other wonderful aspects of our current residence, I am stuck with choosing between a push rotary spreader or my trusty (so far) Chapin 24-volt battery operated sprayer (thus far, it appears I luckily dodged a bullet getting the 24-v and NOT the 20-v model)

Being able to use the rotary spreader sure would be quicker and much less of a self-inflicted torture session but, if applying a Spray is more effective and gives me a better chance of avoiding another acre-and-a-half of goose grass, barnyard grass and quack grass like I encountered last year then, using the sprayer will be well worth it.

(Did you hear that, my right knee?! :lol:


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

I prefer liquid because you can spray the same amount of carrier with different quantities of ai. If you use granular, the less you want, the fewer granules you have. If you don't spread enough granules, then coverage can be spotty.

To make it easier to spray, use 1/2 gal/M instead. Yes, 1 gal/M is ideal but 1/2 will suffice. Hopefully you get a little rain to water it in though unless you are irrigated. Also, with lower carrier volumes, be sure your spray pattern and coverage are on point. Practice in driveway with water... You can also split it into 2 days so you don't have as much to do each day. 2 loads per day is easier...


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## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

If you go with granular, choose a product with a lower SGN (smaller prills) to improve your coverage.


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## NewLawnJon (Aug 3, 2018)

I know that a while back The Grass Factor did a video on granular vs. liquid pre-em, an his opinion was he preferred the liquid since you have more control over the application than you would with a pre-em.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Thanks, gents! I am going to go ahead and order a quart of liquid Diopithyr.

SLJ, I have to admit I overlooked the simplicity of reducing the carrier but, maintaining the proper amount of a.i. And, a couple days ago, they were calling for rain all through end of this week. Then over the weekend, bam! like flippin' a switch, no more rain forecast (sheesh!). I'm gonna have to hold off til rain is forecast as, we still have a lot of 28^F and lower nights before winter is over 'round these parts and I wouldn't want risk freezing the irrigation pump! And, no doubt, I cannot afford spotty coverage after the "zombie weed attack" I experienced last summer! :shock:

osuturfman, THAT is a good point (and, as I recall, the majority of the "chunks" in Lesco Dimension are pretty large, relatively speaking, thanks!

NewLawnJon, hmmm, I seem to remember seeing a video in front of a whiteboard that discussed the differences between two preemergents but, I think having that extra bit of control is what I'll keep in mind as I'm jumping that backpack sprayer around! :lol: I pretty much am resigned to spraying fungicide as a preventative in my locals every 3 weeks during the late Spring thru early Fall so, I guess I'll eventually get used to several additional "backpack sessions" applying preemergents in late Winter / early Spring and then again in Autumn.

Thanks again, guys! :thumbup:


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