How to Mix Crossbow Herbicide Per Gallon

The Short Version

• For soft broadleaf weeds: Mix 1.33 fluid ounces (about 2.5 tablespoons) of Crossbow herbicide per gallon of water to make a 1 percent solution.
• For woody brush and brambles: Mix 2.66 fluid ounces (about 5.3 tablespoons, or one-third of a cup) per gallon of water to make a 2 percent solution.
• Always add water first: Fill the tank halfway with clean water, pour in your measured chemical, add a sticking agent if treating waxy leaves, add the rest of the water, and shake well.
• Spray safely: Apply on calm days when temperatures stay below 85 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent invisible chemical vapors from drifting onto vegetable gardens, grapes, or fruit trees.

Crossbow Herbicide Mixing Ratios per Gallon

Crossbow herbicide is a selective weed killer made from two active ingredients: 2,4-D and triclopyr. It kills broadleaf weeds and woody brush down to their root systems without harming established lawn grasses like Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, or bermudagrass. Getting your mixing ratio right is the most critical part of the entire job. If you mix the solution too weak, the roots survive underground and push up new green shoots within a month. If you mix it too hot, the chemical scorches the leaves off immediately. When leaves drop off overnight, the plant cannot pull the chemical downward through its circulatory system, leaving the root crown alive.

For spot spraying with a standard handheld or backpack sprayer, you will mix either a 1 percent solution or a 2 percent solution in water.

Use a 1 percent solution on annual weeds, biennial weeds, and soft perennial broadleaf weeds. This rate easily handles dandelions, clover, plantain, chickweed, creeping charlie, ragweed, and wild dock. To mix a 1 percent solution, add 1.33 fluid ounces of Crossbow per gallon of water. In everyday kitchen volume, 1.33 ounces equals roughly 2 and a half tablespoons, or 8 standard teaspoons.

Use a 2 percent solution on tough, woody plants, woody vines, and thick brush. This includes wild blackberry brambles, poison ivy, poison oak, wild rose, sumac, honeysuckle, and small deciduous saplings. To mix a 2 percent solution, add 2.66 fluid ounces of Crossbow per gallon of water. That amount equals roughly 5 and one-third tablespoons, or just over one-third of a standard measuring cup.

Here is how those measurements translate across common sprayer tank sizes:

• 1-Gallon Sprayer: Use 1.33 fluid ounces for light weeds, or 2.66 fluid ounces for woody brush.
• 2-Gallon Sprayer: Use 2.66 fluid ounces for light weeds, or 5.33 fluid ounces for woody brush.
• 3-Gallon Sprayer: Use 4.0 fluid ounces for light weeds, or 8.0 fluid ounces for woody brush.
• 4-Gallon Backpack Sprayer: Use 5.33 fluid ounces for light weeds, or 10.66 fluid ounces for woody brush.

Never eyeball your measurements by pouring a splash straight from the jug into your sprayer. A small plastic measuring cup with ounce markings costs very little and guarantees you get the right mixture every single time. Keep that measuring cup in your shed solely for lawn chemicals, and never bring it back inside the house.

Step-by-Step Mixing Sequence for Tank Sprayers

Mixing herbicide out of order creates clumpy solutions, heavy foaming, and dangerous splashes. Follow this exact step-by-step sequence to prepare your tank safely and get an even blend from your first pump to your last.

1. Put on your personal protective gear. Before opening any chemical container, put on unlined chemical-resistant gloves made of nitrile or neoprene, safety goggles that seal around your eyes, a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, socks, and waterproof rubber boots. Never mix or spray lawn chemicals in sandals, shorts, or short sleeves.
2. Fill the sprayer tank half full with clean water. Pour fresh, room-temperature water into your tank until it reaches half of your target volume. For a 1-gallon batch, pour in a half-gallon of water first. Never pour chemical into a completely dry, empty tank. Chemical sitting at the bottom will splatter up when the water stream hits it, and it will generate thick foam that prevents you from reading your gallon markers accurately.
3. Measure your herbicide accurately. Set your dedicated liquid measuring cup on a flat surface outdoors. Carefully pour Crossbow into the cup until it hits your target ounce mark. Keep the jug close to the rim of the cup to prevent spills, and close the jug cap tightly right away so it cannot tip over.
4. Pour the herbicide into the half-filled tank. Slowly empty your measuring cup directly into the water inside your sprayer. Rinse the measuring cup with a cup of clean water and dump that rinse water into the sprayer tank as well, ensuring every drop of measured chemical makes it into your mix.
5. Add a sticking agent if needed. Many woody brush species like wild blackberry, English ivy, and greenbrier have thick, waxy coatings on their foliage. Plain water drops bead up and roll straight off these slick leaves onto the dirt. A sticking agent (a surfactant, which breaks water surface tension so chemical droplets spread flat and cling to waxy leaves) helps the herbicide soak in. Add roughly 1 to 2 teaspoons of a quality non-ionic surfactant per gallon of mix right after adding the herbicide.
6. Top off the tank with the remaining water. Add clean water until the liquid level reaches your exact gallon line. Pour the final water in steadily without splashing to avoid building up a head of foam at the top of the tank opening.
7. Seal the cap and shake the tank to blend. Screw the sprayer lid down firmly. Pick up the tank and shake it thoroughly up and down for 20 to 30 seconds. This shaking blends the water, sticking agent, and herbicide into a uniform, slightly cloudy solution. Give the tank a gentle shake every 10 to 15 minutes while walking your property to keep the ingredients from settling out.

Water Mixtures vs. Diesel Fuel Mixtures

Most property owners mix Crossbow with plain water, but the label also allows mixing with diesel fuel or kerosene under specific circumstances. Choosing between water and fuel oil depends entirely on the season of the year and the part of the plant you plan to treat.

A water mixture is designed for foliar spraying, which means spraying green foliage while plants are actively growing. From late spring through mid-summer, woody brush and broadleaf weeds pull water and sugars from their green leaves down into their root systems. Spraying foliage with a water mixture during this active window allows the chemical to penetrate through the leaf pores and move downward into the root ball. Foliar water spraying works best on low brush, briar patches, fence rows, and spot weed patches in pastures.

A diesel fuel mixture is strictly for basal bark treatments and cut-stump treatments on woody brush and trees with trunks under 6 inches in diameter. When plants drop their leaves in late fall and go dormant for the winter, a water-based foliar spray is useless because there are no green leaves to absorb the chemical. Dormant tree bark is thick, dry, and water-repellent.

Diesel fuel acts as an oil carrier. It dissolves tree waxes and carries the active chemical straight through the rough outer bark and into the tree's living green cambium layer underneath. You can perform basal bark treatments throughout the late fall, winter, and very early spring, provided the bark is dry and not covered in snow or ice.

For basal bark applications, mix Crossbow at a 4 percent concentration in diesel fuel, kerosene, or commercial basal bark oil. That equals 5.12 fluid ounces of Crossbow per gallon of diesel. To apply it, adjust your sprayer wand nozzle to a solid stream and spray the lower 12 to 15 inches of the woody trunk completely, wetting the bark on all sides all the way down to the ground line. Spray until the bark looks wet, but stop before the diesel puddles deeply in the soil.

You can also use this diesel mix for cut-stump work. If you cut down an unwanted wild plum, alder, or sumac tree, brush or spray the cut-stump mixture onto the freshly cut wood surface and the outer bark ring within 15 minutes of cutting. The oil carries the chemical down into the stump and stops aggressive re-sprouting.

Keep in mind that diesel fuel causes instant burn on lawn grasses and perennial flowers. Never spray a diesel fuel mixture over pasture turf, lawn grass, or near garden root zones. Keep fuel mixtures confined solely to tree trunks and woody brush stems in open brushlands or fence lines.

Preventing Spray Drift and Protecting Your Yard

Crossbow is a powerful herbicide that can unintentionally damage sensitive plants on your property or your neighbor's property if you are careless during application. Tomato plants, grapevines, peppers, beans, roses, and young fruit trees are hypersensitive to even tiny amounts of 2,4-D and triclopyr. Following a few practical rules prevents expensive landscaping mistakes.

• Respect the 85-degree temperature limit. Crossbow is formulated as an ester. Herbicides made with ester chemistry have a high vapor pressure, meaning they can turn from a liquid droplet into an invisible vapor when outdoor temperatures climb above 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius). This vapor rises into the warm air and floats on faint thermal breezes, landing on sensitive broadleaf plants hundreds of feet away. Only spray on cool mornings or mild days where temperatures will stay under 85 degrees until the spray has completely dried.
• Spray only in gentle, steady breezes. Ideal spraying conditions feature a steady breeze between 3 and 7 miles per hour blowing directly away from desirable flower beds, gardens, and ornamental trees. Never spray when wind speeds exceed 10 miles per hour, as wind will blow droplets off target. At the same time, avoid spraying during completely dead calm, humid mornings. Dead calm air often signals a temperature inversion, where cool ground air is trapped under warm upper air, causing fine chemical mists to hover like a cloud and drift unpredictably across your neighborhood.
• Adjust your nozzle to spray coarse droplets. Twist the nozzle on your spray wand until it releases large, heavy droplets rather than a fine, misty fog. Fine mist looks like smoke and floats away with the slightest puff of wind. Heavy, coarse droplets fall straight onto your target leaves and stay there. Hold the spray tip roughly 12 to 18 inches above the weeds to minimize droplet travel distance.
• Protect your lawn grass and ground cover. Crossbow leaves established Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, perennial ryegrass, and coastal bermudagrass unharmed. However, it will kill desirable clover, dichondra, creeping thyme, and all broadleaf ground covers. If you recently seeded a new lawn, do not spray Crossbow until the new turfgrass has grown tall enough to be mowed at least two or three times. Young grass seedlings have tender roots that can be stunted by early chemical exposure.
• Triple-rinse your sprayer immediately after use. Leftover chemical residues inside a tank will ruin future garden chores. If you fill that same sprayer with liquid garden fertilizer or insect spray next week, tiny traces of Crossbow will kill your tomatoes and peppers. When you finish spraying, rinse the tank out thoroughly with clean water, spray clean water through the hose and wand, wash the tank with warm water and a little dish soap, and finish with a final clean water rinse. Drain the rinse water over an overgrown gravel driveway or brush pile, never onto a garden bed or down a storm drain.

FAQs

Will Crossbow herbicide kill my lawn grass?

No, Crossbow will not kill established lawn grasses like fescue, bluegrass, rye, or bermudagrass when mixed at the proper rates. It is a selective broadleaf herbicide designed specifically to leave common pasture and turf grasses alive while killing broadleaf weeds and woody vines. However, it will kill broadleaf lawn components like white clover, and it can harm young turf seedlings that have not yet been mowed two or three times.

How long can mixed Crossbow stay in a sprayer tank?

You should use your mixed Crossbow solution within 24 to 48 hours of blending it with water. Once mixed, the chemical slowly begins to degrade in water, losing its killing strength against tough brush. Additionally, leaving mixed chemical in your tank can degrade internal rubber gaskets and plastic spray valves over time, leading to leaks.

Can I use ordinary household dish soap instead of a sticking agent?

While some homeowners use dish soap in a pinch, a commercial non-ionic surfactant works far better on tough weeds. Standard household dish soaps often contain grease-stripping detergents and fragrances that can cause excessive foaming in your tank and can burn leaf surfaces prematurely. A proper agricultural sticking agent breaks surface tension evenly without foaming, allowing the herbicide to penetrate deep into thick, waxy brambles.

When is the best time of year to spray Crossbow?

For green foliage spraying with water, the best window is late spring through early summer when weeds and brush are actively growing and flowering. For woody brush and small saplings, early fall is also an excellent foliar window because plants are pulling winter carbohydrates down into their roots. If you are doing basal bark treatments with diesel fuel, the best time is late fall through winter while trees and brush are fully dormant.