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Western Nebraska | Oh crap! Now that I am put on the spot I can't remember which chemical it is. We use 2,4-D and Banvel as our primary broadleaf sprays. If I remember correctly it is Banvel that will turn to gas above 85. When it does that you really don't know where it is going to end up. It could float over to the neighbors tree row and start doing damage there. It is one of those two chemicals and it is late and therefore my brain is not working and can't remember which one.
I think it is the air temperature, more than the temp of the spray in the tank. Depending on what size of tank you have you are only going to have the spray in the tank for a couple of hours. Oh yeah, that reminds me of another important thing: Do not mix the spray the night before and then go out and spray the next morning. Make sure that what you mix up you can get sprayed out right away. Some chemicals are really bad about getting tied up in the mix and becoming inactive if left in suspension for too long. If we end up getting wind that shuts us down for the day with a load of glyphos we usually add some more to the mix the next day so that we are sure to get a good kill.
This is another one of "Dean's college facts" so take it for what it is worth. I think cool season plants start the metabolic processes, growing if you will, around 65 degrees and are shut down by 85 degrees. Warm season plants start up in the 75-80 degree range and are shut down by the time the temp hits 100. If someone has the exact numbers feel free to post them. This comes into play when you are trying to kill specific weeds. For instance, if you were wanting to kill cheat grass with roundup in the spring there wouldn't be much sense in spraying when the temp is over 85. I don't think that roundup will volatilize but even if it doesn't, the plant isn't actively growing so you aren't going to get a very good kill. Another side note, cheat grass is easiest to kill in the late fall. Spray your stubble right before you winterize your sprayer and it will be nice and clean in the spring.
Not sure much of this is making much sense right now, so if you have any more questions on what I have confused I will take a better shot at it tomorrow morning.
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Spraying question.........bear with me........crop oil and surfactant.
