Weed Control
Seeding After Pre-Emergent: The Conflict Nobody Warns You About
A crabgrass barrier cannot tell your grass seed from a weed seed. Purdue's per-product delays, the three actives labelled for seeding, and the honest workaround.
Selective Pre- and Post-Emergent Herbicide (concentrate)
Atticus Torocity Mesotrione Herbicide, 8 oz Review
★★★★★ 4.5/5
our editor rating how we score4.3/5 from 1,479 shoppers at Amazon — their number, not ours.
$26–$34
Typical price · 8 oz concentrate; rate per label by target and turf species
Affiliate links — see our disclosure. Commissions never influence verdicts.
Mesotrione is one of only three actives labelled for use at seeding time, and this is the homeowner-priced concentrate version of it rather than the professional product.
Our Verdict
This closes a genuine gap. Rutgers names mesotrione, siduron and topramazone as the only pre-emergence herbicides labelled for use at seeding time — everything else on a crabgrass-preventer shelf will stop your grass seed along with the weed's. Mesotrione was previously a choice between a starter fertilizer at a fixed low rate or professional Tenacity; this is the same active as a concentrate at a homeowner price, which means you can run it at label rate on a spring seeding. Two things to expect. Rutgers notes that after application weed seedlings and sometimes the turfgrass will appear bleached for 7 to 21 days — the active blocks pigment production, so pale grass is the product working rather than failing, and a second application is possible 4 to 6 weeks later. And read the turf list before you buy: mesotrione's tolerance is on cool-season species, and it is not a warm-season product. Rutgers is also candid that mesotrione is not as effective as pendimethalin, dithiopyr or prodiamine on an established lawn — you are trading some crabgrass control for the ability to seed at all.
✅ Pros
- One of only three actives labelled for use at seeding — Rutgers names it first
- Homeowner-priced concentrate rather than a fixed-rate starter fertilizer or a professional-only product
- Works both pre- and post-emergence, so it covers weeds already up and those still to germinate
- 1,479 Amazon ratings, which for a specialist herbicide is a large evidence base
- Covers crabgrass, clover, nutsedge and a broad broadleaf list
⚠️ Cons
- Cool-season turf only — check the label's species list, it is not a warm-season product
- Bleaching of treated plants for 7 to 21 days is normal and alarms first-time users
- Rutgers: less effective than pendimethalin, dithiopyr or prodiamine on an established lawn
- A programme product rather than one pass — a second application 4 to 6 weeks later is often needed
Product type
Selective Pre- and Post-Emergent Herbicide (concentrate)
Active ingredient
Mesotrione 40.0% (Tenacity equivalent)
Price range
$26–$34
Coverage
8 oz concentrate; rate per label by target and turf species
Best for
Spring seeding or renovation on a cool-season lawn, where every other pre-emergent would stop the grass seed too
our editor rating
4.5 out of 5
Where our facts come from
Label read on the registrant's own PDF
EPA Reg. No. 91234-75
We read the printed label published by the company that holds the registration. EPA hosts no PDF for this one, so this is the best available text.
What we found when we read it
Specimen label read 2026-08-02 on the registrant's own site. EPA Reg. 91234-75, mesotrione 40.0%. CORRECTION: retail copy and one sell sheet describe this product as 60% mesotrione / 4 lb per gallon; the label's active ingredient statement reads 40.0%, and that is what we record. Rate read off the label: 4 to 8 fl. oz. per acre (0.125 to 0.25 lb AI) in at least 30 gallons of water. The label also cross-references prodiamine (EPA Reg. 100-834) as a tank-mix partner for extended crabgrass and foxtail control. PROVENANCE CAVEAT recorded 2026-08-03: the PDF read is headed 'This information is for promotional purposes only… Always refer to the actual package for complete label verbiage', so it is a specimen rather than the full accepted label. It also states 'Contains 4 lbs. Mesotrione per gallon', which reconciles with the 40.0% figure. Checked specifically for a bermudagrass-suppression-in-fescue use because Virginia Tech's programme uses mesotrione for that: this specimen does NOT carry it. Its only bermudagrass section is 'Dormant Bermudagrass Application Only', for winter weeds in dormant bermuda — the opposite use, with bermuda as the crop. So this product is not carded for bermudagrass control in cool-season turf.
Where this page and the container disagree, the container wins — the label is the legal authority on rates and restrictions. How to read one yourself.
Where This Product Matters
Matched against each state's actual disease, weed and pest pressure.
Alabama
Alabama hub →CrabgrassNutsedge
🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: April–May and September, and check every label against centipede before it leaves the shelf
Alaska
Alaska hub →DandelionWhite clover
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: June through July, inside the same short window everything else happens in. There is no autumn second chance
Arizona
Arizona hub →Purple nutsedgeCrabgrass
🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: March–May and during monsoon flushes; Celsius-type products handle 100°F+ windows
Arkansas
Arkansas hub →CrabgrassNutsedge (Delta ground that stays wet)
🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: Bounded by the label's temperature ceiling rather than the calendar — spring treatments finish before the June heat arrives, and nothing selective goes down again until September cools off
California
California hub →CrabgrassNutsedge (yellow and purple)
🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: March–May while weeds are young; avoid spraying drought-stressed turf in summer
Colorado
Colorado hub →DandelionCrabgrassWhite cloverClover and Banks grass mites (dry winters and hot dry summers)
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Fine Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: May–June and September; high-altitude sun makes stressed turf easy to injure, so spot-treat rather than blanket-spray
Connecticut
Connecticut hub →CrabgrassDandelionWhite cloverYellow nutsedge (the wet low corners of a till lawn)
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: Broadleaf sprays in May–June and again in September, when the weeds are moving sugars to the roots; skip July and August, when a stressed cool-season lawn takes the injury and the weed does not
Delaware
Delaware hub →CrabgrassYellow nutsedge (the wet clay corners in the north and the irrigated sand in the south, for opposite reasons)White clover
🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: April to late May, then September into October. Skip July and August entirely: this is the transition zone, and a stressed tall fescue lawn takes the injury the weed shrugs off
Florida
Florida hub →CrabgrassYellow & purple nutsedge
Application window: March–May and October–November; avoid applications above 85°F
Georgia
Georgia hub →Crabgrass
🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: April to early June and September–October; avoid mid-summer sprays on stressed turf
Hawaii
Hawaii hub →CrabgrassKyllinga and nutsedge in wet ground
Application window: Year-round where the turf is actively growing, which is most of the time; the constraint is heat and drought stress on the leeward side rather than a dormant season
Idaho
Idaho hub →DandelionWhite cloverCrabgrass in the warmer southern valleys
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: Late April into June, then September into October; skip the July and early August heat, which is also when UI's own fertilizer schedule goes quiet
Illinois
Illinois hub →DandelionCrabgrass
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: May–June and September; fall beats creeping charlie best
Indiana
Indiana hub →DandelionCrabgrassWhite cloverNutsedge (wet clay pockets)
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: October is the most effective month for broadleaf weeds; never apply above 80°F or to drought-stressed turf
Iowa
Iowa hub →CrabgrassDandelionWhite clover
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: October, and October is most of it — but check the wind and the date against what is happening in the fields, because early-summer growth-regulator drift is a real seasonal risk here and your own spray carries the same way
Kansas
Kansas hub →CrabgrassDandelionYellow nutsedge
🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass
Application window: April into May and again in September–October; avoid July and August, when a tall fescue lawn here is already at its limit
Kentucky
Kentucky hub →Crabgrass
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: April–May and September–October; autumn is the knockout window for the wild garlic that defines a Kentucky winter lawn
Louisiana
Louisiana hub →Nutsedge
Application window: March–May and October–November; avoid applications above 85°F and never on drought-stressed St. Augustine
Maine
Maine hub →DandelionWhite cloverCrabgrass (southern and coastal Maine more than the interior)
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: June, then a narrow late-August to mid-September window. Maine's usable autumn is the shortest in New England
Maryland
Maryland hub →CrabgrassWhite cloverNutsedge (wet Coastal Plain ground)
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: April–May and September–October; autumn is the knockout window for the ground ivy and violet the Piedmont is full of
Massachusetts
Massachusetts hub →CrabgrassDandelionWhite clover
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Fine Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: A narrow autumn is the real window here: late September into October, after the summer heat and before New England's early frost closes the season
Michigan
Michigan hub →CrabgrassDandelionWhite clover
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: May–June and September; autumn is the stronger window for perennial broadleaf weeds
Minnesota
Minnesota hub →CrabgrassDandelion
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Fine Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: Late May–June and September; autumn is the stronger window for perennial broadleaf weeds
Mississippi
Mississippi hub →CrabgrassNutsedge
Application window: April–May and September, avoiding the midsummer heat restrictions on most labels
Missouri
Missouri hub →CrabgrassDandelionWhite cloverNutsedge (claypan ground that stays wet)
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: April–May and September–October; skip summer sprays on drought-stressed fescue
Montana
Montana hub →DandelionWhite cloverCrabgrass and foxtail in the warmer valleys and in thin ground
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: June, then late August into September. In a sub-100-day valley there is no third chance
Nebraska
Nebraska hub →CrabgrassDandelionWhite cloverYellow nutsedge in the irrigated low spots
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: Late spring and again from late August through September, when perennial broadleaf weeds are moving reserves to the root
Nevada
Nevada hub →Crabgrass
🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: March–April and October in the south; May and September in the north
New Hampshire
New Hampshire hub →Crabgrass (heaviest in the south, thinning northward)DandelionWhite clover
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: Late May into June, then late August through September. The autumn window closes earlier here than anywhere else in southern New England
New Jersey
New Jersey hub →CrabgrassDandelionWhite cloverNutsedge (wet coastal-plain soils)
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: May and September–October; autumn is the knockout window for perennial broadleaf weeds
New Mexico
New Mexico hub →Crabgrass in irrigated turf
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: Spring and early autumn; in the south skip the June heat entirely, and in the north the usable autumn window closes by early October
New York
New York hub →CrabgrassDandelionWhite clover
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Fine Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: May and September–October; autumn is the knockout window for perennial broadleaf weeds
North Carolina
North Carolina hub →CrabgrassWhite clover
🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass
Application window: April–May and September–October; avoid spraying heat-stressed fescue in July–August
North Dakota
North Dakota hub →DandelionWhite cloverFoxtail and barnyardgrass in thin or disturbed groundCrabgrass, real but a smaller problem than further south
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: Early to mid-June, then late August into early September. There is no third opportunity
Ohio
Ohio hub →DandelionCrabgrassWhite clover
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: May–June and September; fall applications hit dandelion taproots hardest
Oklahoma
Oklahoma hub →CrabgrassSandbur (the western sandy-soil weed that standard crabgrass preventers do not list)
🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: Judged by wind before season: sustained wind is Oklahoma's normal condition, so the usable spray days are calm mornings in April, May and September rather than whole months
Oregon
Oregon hub →DandelionCrabgrass (east side and hot summers only)
🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Fine Fescue🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: March–May and September–October; the long mild shoulder seasons give more usable spray days than most states get
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania hub →DandelionCrabgrassWhite clover
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: May and September — fall is the knockout window for perennial broadleaf weeds
Rhode Island
Rhode Island hub →CrabgrassDandelionWhite cloverYellow nutsedge (the wet hollows in till lawns)
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: Broadleaf work in May–June and again in September; the September pass is the one that holds, because the weed is moving reserves down
South Carolina
South Carolina hub →CrabgrassNutsedge
🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: April–May and September–October, and never above 90°F — centipedegrass is sensitive to 2,4-D both at spring green-up and in summer heat
South Dakota
South Dakota hub →DandelionWhite cloverCrabgrass and foxtail in thin or disturbed ground
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: Early to mid-June, then late August into September, which is the pass that actually holds on perennial broadleaf weeds
Tennessee
Tennessee hub →Dallisgrass (a perennial the quinclorac that clears crabgrass will not touch)CrabgrassNutsedge
🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass
Application window: April–May and September–October; skip sprays on drought-stressed summer fescue
Texas
Texas hub →CrabgrassNutsedge
🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: April–early June and September–October; avoid herbicides above 90°F
Utah
Utah hub →CrabgrassDandelion
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: May and September, avoiding the intense midsummer heat on the label
Vermont
Vermont hub →DandelionWhite cloverCrabgrass (a valley problem more than a hill-town one)
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: Late May through June, then a short late-August to mid-September window. Vermont's autumn window is the narrowest in New England
Virginia
Virginia hub →CrabgrassDandelionNutsedgeWhite clover
🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Fine Fescue
Application window: April–May and September–October; skip sprays on heat-stressed fescue in July and August
Washington
Washington hub →DandelionWhite clover
🌾 Perennial Ryegrass🌾 Fine Fescue🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass
Application window: April–May and September–October; WSU caps applications at 80°F, stricter than the 85–90°F ceilings used elsewhere
West Virginia
West Virginia hub →CrabgrassWhite cloverYellow nutsedge in the wet spots the fragipan creates
🌾 Tall Fescue🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: April into May and again in September–October. Skip July and August: this is transition-zone country and a heat-stressed tall fescue lawn absorbs the injury the weed does not
Wisconsin
Wisconsin hub →DandelionCrabgrassWhite clover
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Fine Fescue🌾 Perennial Ryegrass
Application window: Early to mid-fall is the favourable window for dandelion and other perennial broadleaf weeds
Wyoming
Wyoming hub →DandelionWhite clover
🌾 Kentucky Bluegrass🌾 Tall Fescue
Application window: June, then late August into September. UW's own framing is useful: a slow-release application covers a 90 to 100 day growing season, which is roughly the entire Wyoming season
Common questions
Common Questions
How much does Atticus Torocity Mesotrione Herbicide, 8 oz cost?
Atticus Torocity Mesotrione Herbicide, 8 oz typically runs $26–$34, covering 8 oz concentrate; rate per label by target and turf species.
What does Atticus Torocity Mesotrione Herbicide, 8 oz treat?
Atticus Torocity Mesotrione Herbicide, 8 oz targets crabgrass, clover, nutsedge, dandelion, foxtail.
What is the active ingredient in Atticus Torocity Mesotrione Herbicide, 8 oz?
Mesotrione 40.0% (Tenacity equivalent), registered under EPA Reg. No. 91234-75.
What is the biggest downside of Atticus Torocity Mesotrione Herbicide, 8 oz?
Cool-season turf only — check the label's species list, it is not a warm-season product
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