August 2009

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As the spring gives way to summer and more and more growers are moving from trying FreeHand to buying FreeHand, our competitors are apparently feeling the squeeze.  And as expected, they are beginning to react.  In particular, I am hearing repeated comments from one of our competitors about two specific issues about FreeHand.  Most of the comments are ignorant, untrue or half true.  I would like to offer a response to these comments.  Like most commentary, it is easy to take it out of context or to look at only a part of the answer.  I am trying to offer the best information we currently have and I hope you will take it in its entirety.

Falsehood Number One: FreeHand contains dimethenamid-P (DMTA), which is highly water soluble, will run through the soil, burning plant roots along the way and not provide extended weed control.

My response:

• True, pure, technical dimethenamid-P, compared to DNA class herbicides, is relatively water soluble.  But that is only half the story.  The fact is, once applied to the soil surface, dimethenamid-P readily binds to soil colloids.  It binds particularly tight in soils high in organic matter content, such as soilless media in container nursery crops and landscape beds.  Once bound by the soil, a small amount of dimethenamid-P (about 7%) becomes soluble or active in the soil phase.  This soluble, active portion is what provides the control of germinating weeds.  The soluble fraction of dimethenamid-P has a relatively short half life (about 30 days), so it does not persist (like a DNA herbicide would) and does not accumulate in run-off water, streams and irrigation ponds.
• If dimethenamid-P were so soluble and "ran through the soil media," why are we seeing FreeHand outlast all other herbicides in longevity trials?  Or why did Flowerwood Nurseries get 78 days of control (over 11 weeks) this spring with their FreeHand application?  Oh and by the way, they received this length of control after receiving 11 inches of rain in the three days following application!
• As for the root burning comment, keep in mind that dimethenamid-P is a shoot inhibitor, not a ‘root burner.’ Competitors making this comment merely expose their lack of understanding of this herbicide.

Falsehood Number Two: FreeHand does not control spurge.

My response:

• My first reaction to this one is: Huh?!
• Pendimethalin alone is a decent herbicide on spurge.  Dimethenamid-P alone is a very good herbicide on spurge.  The combination of these two active ingredients (FreeHand) is awesome on spurge.
• Below this entry is a PDF of a slide I use in presentations to demonstrate our performance on spurge.  In a trial performed last summer at North Carolina State University, FreeHand (and Tower, which contains dimethenamid-P) were the only products to control all five species of spurge that are found populating nurseries.
• Again, competitors that are trying to minimize FreeHand’s performance are just not looking at the data being generated in numerous trials by several independent university researchers.

My response to growers who hear these falsehoods and then bring them to my attention is simple: put FreeHand to the test.  If it works as advertised, buy it, if not, buy something else.  I am confident that at 150 lbs per acre FreeHand will consistently out perform the competition.  FreeHand provides better weed control, broader spectrum of control, and excellent overall plant safety.  This is what we are consistently hearing from growers who are actually using FreeHand.

Thanks for hearing me out. Until next time: get growing!