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Help with Preen

Clint

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Hi everyone! as some of you know i have a natural bog in front of my house in the mountains (i'll bring updated pics when i get back!)

The problem is that the weeds overtake EVERYTHING! I was wondering if it's ok to use non-fertilizer containing Preen to prevent new weed seeds from germinating? i'm not up there all the time, and while it's a godsend that the plant take care of themselves, unfortunately the weeds take care of themselves too...

thanks agian,
clint
 
All Preen will do is prevent new weeds sprouting from seed. It won't kill established weeds that come up from the roots every year. I would hesitate using it without doing a small test area to see what happens. I suspect it will also prevent CP seeds from sprouting. Its active ingredient is corn gluten, a protein that may increase nutrients in the soil as it breaks down and may encourage algea growth.
 
I don't know anything about Preen. Do you have to apply a lot? Would the rain wash some of the nutrients away as it decomposes?

My whole intention of planting Sarracenia, Drosera, and Dionaea in a natural bog was for them to spread. I guess I can collect the seed, grow them out for a year and then plant them. No problem.
 
I went to the Preen Webpage and found that the product I thought you were talking about was the Preen Vegetable Garden Weed Preventer. After rechecking the site I believe what you were probably talking about is Preen Garden Weed Preventer which uses Trifluralin as the active ingredient. If so then you won't have the problem of gluten breaking down, but this stuff isn't recommended for muck soils or soils with more than 10% organic matter. The lable states that rain won't wash it away. You don't really need a lot to be effective. Here's a link to a PDF of the lable which has an illustration showing how the coverage should look. It uses a quarter for size reference. Preen Lable pdf

Would a controlled burn be possible?
 
sure i could burn it this winter, but i'd still like to use preen. why would much soils be bad?

i don't have a flamethrower lmao. what would i do? would lighter fluid hurt the plants?
 
It doesn't say why it shouldn't be used on a muck soil, just that it shouldn't. I'm guessing that the organic components in muck soils bind or interfer with the Trifluralin, reducing it's effectiveness.

Burning would probably be done easiest next spring when the weeds are dead and still dry. That would also be the best time to apply the Preen again, since it won't kill the weeds that are growing now but will keep their seeds from sprouting. Burning will thin out some of the weeds and destroy some of the seeds that were still on the plants. It would make it easier to see the ground and tell how evenly you are applying the Preen. It would also be beneficial to the CPs as an occasional fire is (or used to be) part of their ecology and served to clear shrubs, tall weeds and grasses that shade them out. Lighter fluid would probably be bad for the plants. Sorta of like spilling gas on the grass when you are trying to refill a lawn mower or weed whacker/trimmer. It might be possible to borrow/rent a weed burner. They are a torch like affair hooked up to a 20lb propane tank and are used for melting ice on sidewalks and burning weeds and grass out of irragation ditches, cracks in sidewalks, etc.
 
hehe, or just lay some dry mulch out and burn it.

thanks alot, you've been a huge help
biggrin.gif
 
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