Post emergence herbicide for maize and beans which is the best?
Imagine this…
You have just intercropped your maize with beans.
All has gone well.
The rain has come and your seeds have germinated very well.
A few days later, the time to weed your field arrives.
However, you have one concern.
You do not want to do hand weeding.
Why?
It is tedious, time consuming and expensive.
After much thought you come to the conclusion, “I will weed my farm using an herbicide.”
However, you have a Huge Problem.
You do not know which post emergence herbicide to use.
If that describes your situation, you’ve come to the right place.
I will tell you which herbicide to use on both maize and beans—without losing any of them.
Sounds too good to be true?
No it is not.
There’s A Post Emergence Herbicide You Can Use On Maize That Has Been Intercropped with Beans Without Harming Either of Them.
Ready for the answer?
Well, the herbicide is Bentazone.
“Why use Bentazone as a post emergence herbicide for maize and beans?”
You may ask.
Well…
- This is the best post emergence herbicide for intercropped maize and beans.
- When you use the herbicide, it doesn’t harm the maize nor the beans—but completely finishes all the weeds.
- Once you know how to use the herbicide, it works like a charm.
- Weeding will be super easy.
- Work that would normally take 3 days will take 2-3 hours max.
- That’s not all…
- After you spray it on the weeds, the farm remains weed free for 2-3 months.
- This weed free period gives your maize and beans CRUCIAL time to outcompete all the weeds that will germinate later after the herbicide spray.
In Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, this bean herbicide is sold as Beansclean or Basagram.
You can buy Beansclean/Basagram here
(Please note the active ingredient for Beansclean/Basagram is Bentazone 480L.)
Not many people know about it, and how it works.
That’s why I am writing this today.
Now that I’ve told you the best post emergence herbicide for maize and beans, you could be tempted to click away.
Please don’t.
Knowing the best herbicide for maize and beans is just one part of the solution.
I urge to wait.
Carefully, read further down this post so that you know how Beansclean/Basagram works in both maize and beans.
This is not a threat.
But you know how herbicides can lead to total loss is not handled properly.
Do we have a deal?
Continue reading.
How I came to Discover Basagram/ Beansclean Was the Best herbicide for both Maize and Beans.
For a long time, I had the desire to grow yellow beans.
However, I kept postponing that dream.
The reason for that was…
Time and again, I could find myself lacking one thing that stopped me from doing it.
Sometimes I lacked the funds.
When the money was there, I found myself without the time.
And I remember in another occasion, I had the money, the time but I couldn’t find the right land to lease.
How frustrating this was for me!
Then one growing season, by sheer luck, ALL things I needed to grow yellow beans lined up.
I found myself having the…
- Money
- Time
- And the perfect land for the yellow beans farm.
As I was planning to start this project, I casually shared this idea with a friend of mine.
Believe it or not, this friend of mine was also growing yellow beans in Kilgoris.
Surprisingly, he was making big money growing beans.
However, I didn’t know about it. (shh! “People rarely share how they make good money. They keep it secret!”)
So when I shared with him my idea, he was so excited about it.
That’s when he opened up his experience.
He started spilling the beans on how he makes money growing beans.
And in the course of our talk he introduced me to using Beansclean herbicide on yellow beans farming.
I shared the detailed story on using Beansclean on beans here.
When I sprayed the herbicide on grasses, I noticed it didn’t kill the grasses.
Instead, it only killed broad leafed weeds like black jack, Amaranths, foxglove, chickweed, clover, dandelion, ivy, geranium, ivy, milkweed, thistle etc.
This discovery exited me.
It compelled me to do some research.
During my research, I found that the herbicide is also sold as Basagram in Kenya.
That’s not all.
I also discovered that Basagram is also used as a selective herbicide in rice fields (to clear broad leafed weeds that I’ve just mentioned).
That’s when it hit me.
Rice is a grass, likewise is maize.
Therefore, Basagram/Beansclean won’t kill the maize that I’ve intercropped with beans.
Armed with this discovery, I set to give it a try.
Guess what… it worked like a charm.
It cleared all the weeds leaving behind the maize and the beans.
From then henceforth, I’ve been using Basagram/Beanslcean as a post emergence herbicide for maize and beans.
How Basagram/Beansclean Works to Control Weeds in Your Maize and Beans Farm
(this part is very important for your success in using this herbicide)
As I have mentioned before, these Beansclean (also known as basagram) does not kill grasses.
Therefore, to use it successfully, you must make sure that your farm doesn’t have any grass weeds.
“How do you do that?” You may ask.
Simple. Follow the following easy steps
- Just before the rainy season starts, spray the field with Roundup herbicide. Doing this kills all the grass weeds plus all the other broad leaf weeds that are still growing.
- Plough your land, and let it stay rest for 3-5 days.
- Harrow the land to break the huge soil clods/furrow slices.
- Plant your maize and bean seeds.
- Once they germinate, let them grow along with the weeds until the maize and beans have 3-4 true leaves. it is now time to spray them with Beanslean/Basagram.
- To do it, add 15 liters of water to a knapsack sprayer.
- Add 100ml of Beansclean to the water.
- Add a suitable sticker. If you don’t have any some 10-15 ml of liquid soap will do.
- Agitate using a wooden stick.
- Fill the tank with water up to the 20-liter mark of the knapsack.
- Spray the weeds.
Expected Results for Using the Post Emergence Herbicide for Beans
In 2-3 days’ time all the broadleaf weeds should have started wilting.
Once they wilt, the farm will be free of weeds for about one and a half months.
This will give the maize and beans sufficient time to grow and outcompete the new upcoming weeds.
Summary and Conclusion:
Basagram/Beansclean is the Best post emergence herbicide for maize and beans.
In case you have any questions or comments, share them in the comment section below.
Hi Haron,
Thanks for your elaborate advice on how to use beansclean.
I really would want to use it but the problem with my shamba is that I did not use roundup in the first place. My beans and maize shamba has reached weeding stage; it has both grasses and broad leaved weeds.
I need your further advice, sir.
Regards,
Onyango.
Hi Apollo Onyango,
Thank you very much for reaching out to me about this issue.
You can consider using FUSILADE FORTE® 150ECfrom Sygenta to kill the grass weeds that are inside your beans.
I recommend that you first apply the herbicide on a small portion of your farm, give it a few days to see the outcome, if it is good, apply to the rest of the bean farm.
I hope I have been of help to you.
FUSILADE FORTE® 150EC is a superior post emergence grass weed herbicide which is used in fruits and vegetables. Fusilade Forte is applied when weeds are between 2- 8 leaf stage. Fusilade Forte kills all germinated Grass weeds and is able to select a wide variety of vegetables and fruits.
Check out this detailed Post on Herbicides that kill only grasses
Thank you for the insights in this blog. I will be definitely be lookingfor Basagram. I would also like to ask which is the best method to intercop maize and beans?
All you need to intercrop maize is to put maize in one line, and then the beans in between the maize lines and you are done.
Thank you for the great explanation. Will Bentasan affect the maize crops in situations where you have intercrooped?
Basagram/Beansclean does not affect maize at all since maize is a grass.
wonderful
Thank you Daniel for your good comments and encouragement
can get the bentazone, immediately
will bentazone kill couch grass in the maize field
no it won’t kill the grass. Bentazone kills broad leaf weeds only
what if my farm has maize, beans, peas and cow peas. what the best herbicide sir?
Dear Martha Munyoki,
Thank you for your inquiry.
Unfortunately there is no herbicide that you can use for this type of intercropping system.
If it were maize and beans only, then beansclean/Bentazone could have worked.
If it were or you had a pure stand of either peas, cowpeas, or maize, then a solution could be possible.
Thanks,
When is the best time to apply Beansclean or Basagram that is Must it be raining or can be applied any time
Hi Msungu.
Thank you very much for your inquiry.
The best time to apply beansclean is when you don’t expect rain in 4-5 hours, during a cool day.
When it rains immediately after applying the herbicide, its efficacy may be reduced by the rain.
Please remember to spray the herbicide when the weeds have 3-4 leaves.
When you apply when the weeds are larger/BIGGER, you’ll have to use a higher dose of herbicide as the weeds become more resistant to the herbicide.
Once again thanks a lot Mr. Haron for you guidance. I look forward to a reduced expense this year God willing. However how old is the herbicide (beansclean) on Kenyan shelves /market coz I cant find it locally in Turbo and its environs. Where can I get it in western part of Kenya in particular Eldoret, Kisumu or Kakamega. Alternatively get me a contact of a supplier even from Nairobi. I really need this herbicide. No more weeding