Weeds Overtaking St Augustine

jagfan – posted 07 August 2004 16:02

I live in NE Florida and weeds are overtaking my lawn. In addition to “hairy Crabgrass” I have these other 2 weeds. I’ve included link to the pictures and am not certain whether they are the same weed in different stages of development. The first picture shows them (bright green)growing between the St Augustine runners. Appreciate any help in IDing them. http://home.comcast.net/~jastapleton/Index.html

jagfan – posted 11 August 2004 18:20

Could it be signalgrass?

cjgaddy – posted 11 September 2004 14:45

My God, that’s DOVEWEED. I’ve got it trying to take over my St. Augustine lawn. Here’s what my local Ext. guy said:

Recommended post control is Atrazine (Simazine / Symmetrical triazine herbicides) or a 3 way mix that containing MSMA + 2,4-D, and other things (i.e. Trimec Southern – check label for safety on St. Augustine). Also a new product’s out, Manor, and I do not know how they will work on this weed (post, Dr. Tim Murphy might know he does the turfgrass weed control, I do ornamentals. Doveweed is an annual, so pre-herbicide in spring (2 applications (Jan. & April) should keep Doveweed & Microstigium from germinating (check recommends I made for Microstigium).

I also found this:

GroundsMaintMag1999: “Doveweed (Murdannia nudiflora): This summer annual has fleshy, creeping stems that root at the nodes. The leaves are small, as are the inconspicuous blue to purple flowers. Control: Products containing Atrazine or Simazine applied twice, 30 days apart, provide control. Prompt also is effective. Tank mixes of MSMA or DSMA with Sencor, or multiple applications of 2- or 3-way broadleaf herbicide mixes, also provide good control but may be phytotoxic to certain turfgrass species. Check labels for precautions.”

Still studying this. I thought this would be a simple problem, but clearly it’s not.

SFCEd – posted 19 September 2004 09:47

I purchased a bag of Centipede seed from a major home improvement store and that(in the picture) is what came out. I also did a search for dove weed and the pics look nothing like the ones here. Any experts here care to clarify this.If it is in fact a weed then I got ripped off! Anyway, Scotts plus 2 will kill it too. I did it last year. Ed

Just trying to help – posted 02 November 2004 07:54

I hope I can help you here, not trying to be a know it all, but that is not Doveweed, you should pray that it was,. I think you will find that it is Virginia Buttonweed. If you research this weed you will see it is trting to take over. I live in Louisiana and was the only one that I knew that had the problem for the past (3) years it will KILL your St augistine by smothering it and keeping the ground moist below it. If possible try using Atrizine by High Yield it will take several applications but will do the job without killing tour lawn, oh and if it is DoveWeed it will get it too along with many oter weeds. Hoping this will help you

copperjohn – posted 20 August 2007 07:46

Dude, that is not Virginia Button weed. LOL, if someone can explain to me how to post a picture i’ll show you Button weed.I’m a turf guy not a computer guy. By the way i beleive that is Doveweed. difficult to control. Ha Ha, I just noticed this is a 2004 post. Oh well, 3 years later, never too late to learn.

[This message has been edited by copperjohn (edited 20 August 2007).]

seed – posted 21 August 2007 00:52

I agree, doveweed.

Phil