# "Plug" for DuPont Pastora



## HWooldridge

I have been trying to get rid of johnson grass in my coastal field since about 1998 when a bad flood brought it in. Unfortunately, it has only gotten worse because I always tend to spread some when baling. I tried tillage, grazing, etc. but nothing knocked it down - especially below the stock tank where the ground is a little more damp.

I got pretty frustrated with the whole thing and decided to look around for a herbicide that would work but nothing seemed usable until I came across DuPont Pastora, which is supposed to control j-grass in post-emergent stage. The co-op didn't know much about it but did carry the product so I bought a 20 oz bottle for almost $400 and put out 1 oz per acre as recommended. The tank mix also included a small amount of Grazon and I used Simple Green as surfactant.

I have to say it worked as advertised because after 5 days there are dying spots of johnson grass all over my pasture and the only areas that are still green are the ones I missed with the spray pattern. I have 10 oz of concentrated product left so am going to make up a backpack mix and hit the other spots today. The j-grass was about 10-12 inches tall and actively growing when I hit it and we've had no moisture other than dew since then.

BTW, I have no affiliation with DuPont and don't own any of their stock - just thought I'd pass on a good experience. It's expensive but works well...just make sure you follow the directions on the label because it distributes better when pre-mixed into a slurry before putting in the tank.


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## Vol

Woolridge, You must be in the deep south to already have Johnson grass up. I would be interested in if you have J grass re-emerge in 4-6 weeks. J grass has a rhizome root and it is very difficult to eradicate. Let us know your findings later this June. Regards, Mike


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## HWooldridge

Yes, I'm in Central Texas and it's been 80-95 degrees for several weeks (although we did have a late mild frost). Pastora is supposed to kill j-grass rhizomes after some rain but we have been very dry for several months and are already close to water restrictions - which is real bad to have happen in April because summer is traditionally dry and we need spring rains to make it to autumn. None of my fruit trees set this year and very few wildflowers sprouted.


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## downtownjr

I feel for you guys down Woodridge...my friend winters down near Raymondville and stated it was dry as a bone down there...he sent pictures of the soil cracking already. I know when I lived in San Angelo during my Air Force years, March and April was needed to take you through the year. Without decent rains the reservoirs could not keep up and we had water restrictions. Hope you get some rain soon and for the San Angelo folks the red rooster is on the front page of the paper a little more often. (for those that are curious, he red rooster is only on the front page of the paper when it rains)


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## darwood

Maverick or now known as Outrider, works wonders on johnsongrass. Costs about 12 - 15 dollars an acre, but it is a one time application and hammers the stuff hard. Its been out for a few years and gets a lot of use here. Pastora has not been all its cracked up to be here in NW Arkansas. Use a 1 oz to 1.3 oz to acre rate of outrider, it takes a while for the johnsongrass to respond but when it does its gone.


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## DKFarms

People have had mixed results with Pastora here in Louisiana as well. My personal experience with it was not what I expected or what the salesman pitched. It really set back my Jiggs Bermuda a couple weeks at the 1 oz rate. In fact, I was mad at the applicator because he had just come from spraying RR soybeans and I thought he hadn't rinsed his tank, that's how bad it was. It did kill the little johnsongrass I had and it killed 99% of the vaseygrass. As for crabgrass, which was my main reason for using it, it didn't really kill it, it just stopped it from growing. As for the residual that it claims to have, we'll see how much crabgrass comes back. I won't use it again except to control vasygrass, maybe.


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