Small Scale Invasive Plant Control

Since landowners frequently use herbicides in much smaller quantities than companies and organizations, I want to share with you some of the resources I found that suited my project size. If you get questions from others with smaller-scale herbicide applications, feel free to share my experiences.
  • Wal-mart’s online has an 8 oz. bottle of Thistledown (Clopyralid) and a 16 oz. bottle of surfactant. They shipped from suppliers Colorado's Choice Nursery and Dibbs Farms, respectively.
  • Dollar tree has an automotive oil-change pan that works well as a drip guard. It is large enough and deep enough to use as a catch basin when mixing from smaller bottles.
  • I used disposable shot glasses from Kroger form my measuring cups. Of course they are not calibrated, so the night before I sprayed, I put water in the cups in the required amounts for each chemical, and marked the fluid level with a sharpie. I also labeled each little cup with the chemical and amount so there was no thinking required while in the field. (I did this at the same time I prepared the masking tape mixing notes as Saige suggested.)
  • I tried Rit dye for my indicator dye and it was not dark enough. I plan to get Lazer Blue from Rural King. They have a one-quart bottle available in the Bloomington store.
  • I only needed a 2-gallon sprayer, so I started with a Roundup sprayer and was disappointed when I tested it. It leaked from several places, did not have a pressure release valve, and was not compatible with Clopyralid (acid). I had good results talking to the manufacturer, The Fountainhead Group. Based on my project size and chemical, they were able to recommend a Smith Contractor Acid Compression Sprayer and where it was available. That is the sprayer I used.
 

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