Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Is there a dye for marking sprayed plants?

Is there a dye I can add to my herbicide to mark the upright leaves on my spatterdock so I know where I have sprayed? Maybe a food dye or clothing dye. I would like to make round spatterdock islands scattered around in the pond. Right now they are out of control, but they have served their purpose of helping establishing huge amounts of minnows, where as last spring after a winter fish kill I didn’t have any to speak of. It use to be that every year muskrats would come in and thin out the spatterdock but since our rescue pup found us, Dolly loves to patrol the pond and perhaps drives off the muskrats. And she catches frogs by the dozens. I need to get her in action on video. She spots them in the water and starts charging back and forth, like one for the money, two for the show etc. sometimes up to a dozen charges and then leaps into the water and comes up with weeds, mud and chocking but usually with the frog.

http://www.ruralking.com/spray-tracer-purple-quart.html

Food coloring won't work

I get lots of stuff for the farm from Do My Own Pest Control. They ship quick, and carry Dye.

Thanks, I guess I should have know that. I will check our local farm store today, and we have Rural King in nearby Muncie.

I have used the blue agricultural dye sold at many agricultural stores, now I just use blue pond dye. A little goes a long way.

Now that's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that??

That should be added to the 100 random thoughts thread! I'm sure that pond dye would work great as concentrated as that stuff is.

BIG difference between lake dyes and "spray indicator" colorants.
Both will absolutely work for the goal of marking spray-depositions. However, the difference between the two types of colorants usually becomes very noticable when it's time to clean up - both the spray-equipment AND yourself.
Lake dyes are formulated for longevity (photo-stability), while "colorants" are intended for temporary visual purposes, and generally degrade rapidly in direct sunlight.

Kelly is exactly right, the pond dye will last a long time. I only use the pond dye when spraying around the pond, and very sparingly at that. The agricultural dye is UV sensitive and will only last a few days.

I mix barely enough in to see what I have sprayed, about a 1/2 ounce in my 3 gallon backpack sprayer.

I suppose if you wanted a nice blue tint to your lawn a few ounces of pond dye would do it.

Generally when I play with pond dye I look like the smurf in Kelly's post. I have noticed what I spill does last along time on the boat, my hands, and any vegetation. Also, it takes several rinses to clean off any residue left in the measuring cup. Very good point to consider Kelly.

The way my Dad's eyesight is going, I might have to mix a qt. in a 25 gallon sprayer for him to see where he sprayed the lawn.