The availability of Surflan will be limited over the next 1-2 years. The manufacturing facility was severely damaged and production has stopped. It is not expected to resume until the facility can be rebuilt. Surflan is commonly used in newly planted vineyards for residual control of small seeded broadleaf weeds and grasses. There are a couple alternative products growers can use.
Prowl is registered for use in non-bearing vineyards and is very similar to Surflan. Both are DNA herbicides and control similar weeds. However they differ in how soon after application rainfall is needed for optimum performance. In order for Prowl to be as effective as Surflan, rainfall is need within 7 days of application. While rainfall soon after application is preferred, Surflan can wait on rain for 2 weeks without causing a significant reduction in herbicide performance. Another difference is the application window. Prowl can be applied to dormant vines only.
Another alternative to Surflan is Devrinol. Devrinol can be applied to newly planted vineyards once time has been given to allow soil to settle around young transplants. It controls crabgrass, foxtails, goosegrass, annual ryegrass, chickweed, pigweed, and lambsquarters. However Devrinol must be activated by rainfall or overhead irrigation within 24 hours of application. If it is not activated within 24 hours results will be poor.
In established vineyards Surflan is sometimes tank mixed with simazine for extended preemergence grass control. An alternative, comparable treatment would be Solicam tank mixed with simazine or Karmex. Although Solicam is not as effective as Surflan on pigweed and lambsquarters, it will broaden weed control spectrum of simazine or Karmex and extend residual grass control. Solicam effectively controls spurge, Carolina geranium, and common chickweed. It is capable of suppressing bermudagrass, johnsongrass, and nutsedge (yellow and purple). Application near bud break to grapes grown in sandy soils can result in whitening in the leaf veins. See the label for specific details.