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PBI/Gordon Corp. announced recently that it has received EPA acceptance for a new turf herbicide for grassy and broadleaf weed control. The new, patented formulation contains the protox inhibitor sulfentrazone in combination with quinclorac, 2,4-D and dicamba.
Trademarked as Q4 Turf Herbicide for Grassy and Broadleaf Weed Control, the new product will join the company’s ProForm brand, which includes SpeedZone, PowerZone, SpeedZone Southern and Surge herbicides. The Q4 label will feature the distinctive checkered flag design in orange.
Product Manager Doug Obermann says Q4 will allow lawn care professionals to control yellow nutsedge, crabgrass and broadleaf weeds quickly. Q4 offers a single product control option for yellow nutsedge suppression and grassy and broadleaf weed control in established turfgrass areas. An alternative to MSMA products, Q4 has dramatically reduced photoxicity on cool-season grass species. It also offers the enhanced speed of a protox inhibitor, which is attractive to the golf, lawn and landscape markets. “When clients see visual results in 24 to 48 hours, it really cuts down call-backs, which are very costly to lawn care,” Obermann says.
According to the company, grassy weeds treated with Q4, such as crabgrass and foxtail, will turn ghostly pale prior to the reddening, which precedes weed death. Broadleaf weeds will turn brown, dry up and blow away. Yellow nutsedge suppression is another distinct advantage of the Q4 formulation.
Q4 is currently labeled for use only on cool-season turf, where it has a very high safety rating, according to PBI/Gordon’s Gary Custis. “With this one product, you’ll get control of broadleaf, sedges and annual grasses – it’s really a complete product,” Custis says. “I think a lot of companies wish they’d be able to bring something like this into the market, but the way we’ve put it together makes it very unique.”
Custis explains that while PBI/Gordon does not own the chemistry for quiclorac or the protox inhibitor in Q4, the company does have a “synergy patent” on the ingredients’ interaction. “We don’t own either chemistry, but we discovered that if you mix them you could use less material and still get good levels of activity,” he says. “Essenailly, it allows you to use less pesticide in controlling these weeds.”
Q4 is expected to be available from PBI/Gordon distributors in May 2006.