Best Management Practices:
Puncturevine ( Goathead )
Puncturevine, also known as “goathead”, is a warm season, annual broadleaf weed. This weed is well known for having seeds that remain dormant for several years; thus, building a seed bank that has to be dealt with for several growing seasons.
A quality pre-emergent will kill the germinating seeds as they attempt to emerge. A pre-emergent program should include applications in middle February, middle May and middle September, the critical applications for controlling puncturevine are the applications in February and May.
There are several pre-emergent herbicides that can be used to control puncturevine in most turfgrass sites including bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass, zoysiagrass, and buffalograss. Examples include: XL- 2G (Benefin plus Oryzalin), Pendulum 2G or Anderson 11-3-11 (Pendimethalin) and Balan 2.5 G .
If you have puncturevine that was not controlled by pre-emergent, you may need to apply a post-emergent herbicide. These herbicides can be effective if used when the puncturevine is very young/immature and actively growing. Effective products are Crab-E-Rad Plus, Image, 2-4-D Amine #4, Weed Freezone, and Speedzone Southern. They work very well if used in the correct manner. It may require multiple applications to obtain control with these post-emergent products.
Make certain you read the entire lablel when using any pesticide to insure it is safe for the type lawn you have.
Best Management Practices courtesy of:
Bes-Tex Supply, LLC P.O. Box 664 San Angelo, Texas 76902 Ph. 325-653-1300
