This Blog section is for news about Rainbow & Brown products and their application but especially new products.
This is the place to come to ask a question or find an answer about what is that weed and how best to deal with it for your specific circumstances.
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GrassMate or Triclo - which one should I use?We frequently get asked whether a customer should use Triclo or GrassMate. Well here's some guidance.GrassMate and Triclo are often similar in price and for most of 2021 were the same price. This has happened following changes in the relative cost of certain raw materials.Both GrassMate and Triclo do muc..
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How long should it take stuff to die, after you’ve sprayed it?
It depends on three things.
First is the species, size and maturity of the weed involved.
Fast growing species, especially annuals, will die quickly because the herbicide is transported right through their smaller and simpler structures very quickly. Older, larger, and more ma..
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Agapanthus is not really a weed, of course. It’s more of an ornamental flower, and a pretty nice one too, in its place. It is, for example, better able than almost anything else to handle the carbon monoxide laden atmosphere in the middle of a busy motorway. That’s why we see so many planted there, and looking very pretty too. The problem, however,..
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We got this question.recommended either Glyphosate or GA200 for general weed control in our home garden. For use under hedging and general gardens with a mix of planting. Which of the two products would you recommend please? The answer depends upon a few key points.Both are what you call non-selective so will kill most things. Grass, weeds etc. T..
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NATURAL or GREEN
HERBICIDES - THE HIDDEN FACTS
This article arose from a question from a customer that wanted to spray out a whole paddock – grass and weeds - but wanted a natural herbicide solution as they had a horse that was sensitive to chemicals. Fair enough.
We have always been keen on offering some more “green” herbicide alternatives..
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How toxic are herbicides?Although herbicides are chemicals and all chemicals should
be treated with respect there needs to be some perspective given as there is a mountain of misinformation being
spread by people that really don’t know what they are talking about. I hear it all the time on talkback and it
makes my blood boil.Below is a table whic..
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Why Bother?There are many reasons why you should religiously clean your spray tanks and lines between
products.
To avoid product hardening which can come off in subsequent sprays and block lines and
filters. To
avoid corrosion or other chemical damage to gear.To
ensure there are no residues of one chemical and another.For instance, if you want to ..
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You asked if you could use our product BuckShot to control gorse among a Leyland Cypress hedge, without damaging the hedge. I’m afraid I don’t know. BuckShot contains picloram, and of the many NZ registrations for herbicides containing pictorial there is not a word of advice regarding its effect on cypress hedge plants. Use within a hedge was never..
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Got Buttercups and your not sure whether to use Rainbow & Brown Decision (flumetsulam) or Ranger (thifensulfuron-methyl) then read on. Prices below were effective February 2020.DECISIONBoom spray at around 50g/ha for Creeping buttercup and
65g/ha for Giant Buttercup. So that is only
$19.50/ha to spray for Creeping buttercup and a heap of other wee..
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Tank cleaning between sprays is always important but no more important that if you have been using sulfonylurea herbicides like Rainbow & Brown’s MSF600. Even though this is on the labels it is worth reinforcing this.The sulfonylurea herbicides, like MSF600, have an affinity for binding to plastic tank walls, filters and hoses and then if not clean..
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You asked if it’s OK to apply Gibber900 to a paddock grazed 14 days ago. The answer is yes, though the full benefit does take about 18 days or so from application, so to some extent it depends how long before you want to use that paddock again. If you can wait 18-21 days after you’ve sprayed, it will give you the Full Monty as far as the grass bo..
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The Question: Customer has a blueberry orchard that was planted in March 2017 – The plants are very shallow rooted. They to spray black nightshade and want to know if GA200 would be safe to use (Their sprayer has a hood over the nozzle, so they should not have spray drift, but they are worried about the shallow roots) Is there a possibility that t..
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Every NZ farm that uses hazardous substances needs an up-to-date chemical inventory and a current safety data sheet (SDS) for each product, kept where workers and emergency services can get to them. When WorkSafe checked 680 sheep, beef and dairy farms in late 2025, missing SDSs and inventories were behind 94% of the improvement notices issued. B..
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A wetter helps spray droplets spread across a leaf and stay there, instead of beading up and rolling off before the herbicide gets in. Use a non-ionic wetter for everyday spraying, and step up to an organosilicone wetter for waxy, hairy, dusty or stressed weeds. Always check the herbicide label first, because it tells you whether a wetter is need..
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Spring is the only time of year a wasp queen is on her own. She's out of hibernation, building a small nest by herself and feeding her first larvae with no workers to back her up. Catch her now and that nest never forms, which means no colony of thousands and no new queens next autumn.
✓Queens are active from early spring, roughly September to..