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Tipp City, Ohio

Not sure of the spelling, but a friend of mine mentioned that he used it in his garden last year on weeds. He did not go into detail since majority was talking about the NCAA tournement and Iraq.

What is this prene? How does it work? is it ok for Pumpkins?...Tom

3/28/2003 8:42:32 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Preen is a granular preemergent herbicide that is formulated by Lebanon Seaboard. The active ingredient is 1.5% Trifluralin which is manufactured by Dow Agrosciences. There are many companies who formulate end use products from Trifluralin. The commercial granular version is called Treflan which is 5% active ingredient.

Treflan is not legally labeled for use on any agriculture crop. It is labeled for ornamental use where it keeps weeds from growing in shrub beds & flower gardens.

There is a vegetable garden version of Preen that is legal for use on some vegetables (WATCH STRAWBERRIES) including cucumbers. But not on direct planted seeds. Only on plants that have reached the true 3-4 leaf stage.

There are also many liquid EC (emulsifiable concentrate) formulations that are used by commercial agriculture operators. All told, I know of about 20 different formulations of Trifluralin.

All of these formulations must only be applied to pumpkins that have reached the true 3-4 leaf stage at rates of .5-1 pound active ingredient per acre. The rate is determined by soil texture where coarse soils (sand) require less material & fine ones (clay) require more.

Irrigation is needed to move the active ingredient into the soil. There, it forms a gaseous vapor barrier. As seeds germinate in the barrier, the seedling absorbs a lethal dose of the chemical & dies. By the nature of it's action, Trifluralin doesn't control established weeds. These must first be pulled.

Most AG growers won't use herbicides of any kind for fear of creating an adverse effect on roots. This is possible in many crops & I can't say with any confidence that it won't happen to you.

That said, I use Snapshot in my rows, but not near the main.

Steve

3/28/2003 10:24:59 PM

syracuse, ny

in addition to the above, marvelous description of how it works, i saw a little seminar on products including PREEN,
and i believe it was said that it may prevent the secondary roots from forming on the pumpkin vines....as soon as i heard this i said 'nnnoooo wwaayyyy' but research it! FYI

3/31/2003 7:37:09 PM