Honcho® K6 Herbicide
Honcho K6 carries 48.7% glyphosate as its potassium salt, which comes to 4.5 pounds of glyphosate acid per gallon. Spray lands on green leaves and travels down into roots and rhizomes, so an established perennial goes with the top growth rather than resprouting a fortnight later. Nothing is left behind in the soil.
Honcho K6, 2.5 Gallons
320 fl oz
What the jug holds
- 320 fluid ounces of concentrate in one container
- Enough for roughly 10 acres of 12 inch annual weeds at 32 fl oz per acre
- Around 640 gallons of 0.4% backpack spray
- Surfactant already blended into the formulation
| Active ingredient | Glyphosate, potassium salt |
|---|---|
| Concentration | 48.7% |
| Glyphosate potassium salt | 5.5 lb per U.S. gallon |
| Glyphosate acid equivalent | 4.5 lb per U.S. gallon |
| Acid equivalent by weight | 39.8% |
| Formulation | Water-soluble liquid |
| Herbicide group | Group 9 |
| Mode of action | EPSP synthase inhibition |
| Activity | Systemic, post-emergence |
| Soil residual | None |
| EPA Registration No. | 524-539 |
| Agricultural REI | 4 hours |
| Container | 2.5 gallons, 320 fl oz |
How Much Honcho K6 Per Gallon
Backpack and handheld sprayers
| Strength | Per 1 gallon of spray |
|---|---|
| 0.4% | 0.5 fl oz |
| 0.7% | 1 fl oz |
| 1.0% | 1.3 fl oz |
| 1.5% | 2 fl oz |
| 4.0% | 5 fl oz |
| 7.0% | 9 fl oz |
Two tablespoons come to roughly 1 fluid ounce, which covers the smallest measurements without a graduated cylinder.
Which strength for the job
- Annual weeds under 6 inches, before grasses head out or broadleaves bud0.4%
- Taller annual weeds, unless a rate is named for the species0.7%
- Bermudagrass, field bindweed, milkweed, Canada thistle1.5%
- Methods that wet only part of the plant4%
- Woody brush, trees and vines under those same methods4% to 7%
- Freshly cut stumps, applied to the cut face50% to 100%
Broadcast, by weed height
- Less than 6 inches22 fl oz per acre
- 6 to 12 inches32 fl oz per acre
- More than 12 inches44 fl oz per acre
Those figures apply at the carrier volumes named in the annual weed section. At lower water volumes some species have their own rates starting at 11 fluid ounces per acre. Dense stands and hard-to-control annuals can take up to 44 where that is permitted.
Ground broadcast equipment normally runs 3 to 40 gallons of water per acre. Aerial application is capped at 44 fluid ounces per acre in 3 to 15 gallons of water and is barred above 10 mph wind.
Cut stumps
Cut the brush or tree close to the soil, then treat the fresh face immediately with a 50% to 100% solution. The cambium, the living ring just inside the bark around the outside of the cut, is the part that has to be covered. Waiting after the saw comes off costs you performance.
Alder, eucalyptus, oak, Austrian pine, saltcedar, sweetgum and willow are among the species this method covers. Skip it entirely where the stump may share grafted roots with a tree you want to keep, because the herbicide travels through the connection.
Surfactant is already in the jug
Honcho K6 ships as a water-soluble liquid with surfactant blended in, so nothing extra is required for the herbicide to wet a leaf and get absorbed. A compatible nonionic surfactant is allowed in specific circumstances and can help at carrier volumes above 30 gallons per acre or at rates under 16 fluid ounces per acre.
There are hard exceptions. No additional surfactant and no surfactant-containing additive goes into preharvest cotton applications or the specified post-emergence applications in Roundup Ready cotton. Buffering and pH-adjusting agents stay out when Honcho K6 is the only pesticide in the tank.
Water quality changes the result
Muddy or murky water drags performance down because soil sediment ties up the herbicide before it reaches a leaf. Draw clean water, start filling the tank, add the measured herbicide near the end and mix gently. Hard agitation whips up foam and buys you nothing.
Hard water and drought stress both respond to 1% to 2% dry ammonium sulfate by weight, which works out to 8.5 to 17 pounds per 100 gallons. Dissolve it completely before the herbicide goes in, and rinse the system with clean water afterward to limit corrosion. Ammonium sulfate is not a reason to cut the Honcho K6 rate. Mix only what you plan to spray that day.
What Honcho K6 Controls
Grasses and sedges
- Barnyardgrass
- Crabgrass
- Foxtails
- Johnsongrass
- Quackgrass
- Bermudagrass
- Fall panicum
- Purple nutsedge
- Yellow nutsedge
Broadleaf weeds
- Lambsquarters
- Pigweed
- Morningglory
- Marestail
- Field bindweed
- Canada thistle
- Milkweed
- Common ragweed
Brush, vines and trees
- Blackberry
- Poison ivy
- Poison oak
- Honeysuckle
- Kudzu
- Multiflora rose
- Willow
- Alder
Size and growth stage set the rate
Annual weeds go down easiest while they are young and growing hard. A large hardened annual, or a stand thick enough that the spray never reaches the lower leaves, can need a higher labeled rate even when its measured height sits in a lower band.
Perennials behave differently. Many respond best once enough leaf area has developed and the plant is heading into a later growth stage, since that is when material moves down into the root system fastest. Woody brush and vines usually want full leaf expansion, though several species carry their own timing. Finding a plant on a label list is not a promise that one pass finishes it.
Where Honcho K6 Belongs
Spray it here
- Fence rows and fence lines around paddocks, corrals and pens
- Building foundations, equipment storage and farmyards
- Farm roads, driveways, parking areas and storage yards
- Dry ditches, ditch banks, rights of way and shelterbelts
- Labeled Roundup Ready crops, following that crop section
- Tree and vine production, pasture, rangeland and forage systems where the label covers the site
- Ground being cleared before landscape ornamentals go in
Keep it away from
- Any lawn or turf meant to survive the treatment
- Conventional crops without a glyphosate tolerance trait
- Green leaves, green stems, exposed non-woody roots and fruit of plants you value
- Open water, ground with surface water sitting on it, and tidal flats
- Drains and waterways, including where wash water and rinsate end up
- Anywhere downwind of a neighboring crop, orchard, ornamental bed or tree line
- Stumps whose roots may be grafted to a neighboring tree
Non-selective means exactly that
Spray that reaches susceptible green tissue injures or kills it, and the plant has no say in whether you wanted it there. Around a fence row, an equipment yard or a strip of bare ground, that is the point. Beside a hedge, a vegetable row or a conventional crop, the same property is the hazard, and careful placement is what stands between the two outcomes.
One exception exists: a compatible Roundup Ready crop carries a trait that lets it take an over-the-top application while the weeds around it die. That tolerance belongs to the crop, not to anything else growing in the field.
How Fast It Works
What shows up, and when
Growth stops before anything looks wrong. Gradual wilting and yellowing come next, then browning of the top growth and breakdown of the parts underground. Annual weeds commonly show it within 2 to 4 days. Perennials often need 7 days or longer. Cool or cloudy weather stretches the whole sequence, so a plant still green on day three has not shrugged the treatment off.
Four hours of dry weather
Rain within four hours of spraying can wash product off the foliage and force a second application. Treat four hours as the working minimum unless the use section that applies to your job gives a different figure. Dew and irrigation count the same way.
Leave treated plants standing
Mowing, cutting or pulling a treated perennial too early strips off the leaves before enough herbicide has traveled down into the roots and rhizomes. Several species-specific sections set a minimum wait before mowing, tillage or removal.
Let regrowth come back first
Weeds that were recently mowed, cut or grazed carry too little green surface to take up a useful dose. Give them time to push out fresh growth, then spray. This is the most common reason a perennial patch survives an otherwise correct application.
Coverage should be even, and it does not need to run off. Liquid dripping onto the ground is spray solution you paid for that never entered a plant, plus a larger chance of hitting something you meant to spare.
Nothing Stays in the Soil
Glyphosate binds tightly to soil particles as soon as it reaches the ground, which leaves no barrier against the next generation of weeds. Seed that has not germinated is untouched. Rhizomes and rootstocks that never pushed up susceptible growth can survive an application that killed everything visible around them.
A fresh flush of seedlings four weeks later is a new set of plants, not the old ones recovering. That distinction decides what you do next, because a second glyphosate pass fixes a new flush and does nothing at all about the reason it appeared.
Where that helps
Ground you intend to use again is the obvious case. Clearing a strip before planting, knocking down a cover crop, burning down a field ahead of the season: none of those want a herbicide that lingers in the profile for months.
No soil residual is not blanket permission to plant anything tomorrow. Crop rotation, plant-back and post-harvest restrictions in the section that applies still govern what goes in and when.
Where that limits
A gravel yard or fence line that has to stay clear for a season needs more than a single Honcho K6 treatment. Either repeat the application when the next flush comes up, or bring in a labeled residual herbicide as a tank-mix partner where the site and crop permit one.
The permitted partner, its rate and its timing all depend on the site. Two labels in one tank means the more restrictive requirement wins, and compatibility gets checked in a small proportional mixture before a full tank is loaded.
Reading a Glyphosate Label
| Honcho K6 | A 41% glyphosate concentrate | Ready-to-use trigger bottle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front panel figure | 48.7% | 41% | 1% to 2% |
| Salt form | Potassium | Isopropylamine | Varies |
| Glyphosate acid per gallon | 4.5 lb | 3 lb | Under 0.2 lb |
| Surfactant | In the formulation | Often added separately | In the formulation |
| Soil residual | None | None | None |
| Mixing required | Yes | Yes | No |
The percentage on the front panel is the least useful number on the container. It describes the salt, and salts weigh different amounts, so two products with different headline figures can put down identical amounts of herbicide. Acid equivalent is the measurement that compares.
Honcho K6 delivers 4.5 pounds of glyphosate acid per gallon. A conventional 41% isopropylamine salt concentrate delivers 3 pounds, so matching one against the other takes roughly one and a half times the volume. Swapping products ounce for ounce without checking that figure underdoses the job or wastes herbicide on it.
Behind the arithmetic, the potassium salt in Honcho K6 works out to 660 grams of active ingredient per liter, which is 540 grams of glyphosate acid per liter, or 39.8% acid equivalent by weight.
Honcho K6 in Roundup Ready Crops
Crop-specific programs cover alfalfa, canola, field corn, sweet corn, cotton, soybean and sugarbeet. In a compatible glyphosate-tolerant crop, an over-the-top application takes out susceptible weeds and the crop keeps growing, because the trait gives it a version of the enzyme glyphosate cannot block.
Tolerance does not lift the restrictions. Maximum single-application rates, seasonal totals, permitted crop growth stages and preharvest intervals are set crop by crop, and a rate that is legal in one Roundup Ready crop can be prohibited at the same growth stage in another.
One crop, two windows
Roundup Ready sugarbeet takes a maximum single application of 32 fluid ounces per acre from emergence through the 8-leaf stage. Past the 8-leaf stage and up to canopy closure, that ceiling drops to 22 fluid ounces per acre.
Cumulative seasonal limits and a minimum interval before harvest sit on top of both figures. Every crop section is built the same way, which is why the crop directions override the general weed rate guidance whenever Honcho K6 goes into a crop.
Group 9 and resistant weeds
Leaning on one mode of action selects for the plants that survive it, and glyphosate-resistant biotypes already exist in several important weed species. Marestail and waterhemp are the ones most growers meet first.
Before repeating a treatment on a surviving patch, rule out the ordinary causes: poor coverage, wrong timing, drought stress, a weed sprayed too soon after mowing. Where resistance is genuinely suspected, bring in an effective labeled herbicide from a different mode-of-action group, a residual program, or mechanical and cultural control. Keeping escapes from setting seed does more for next season than raising the rate does for this one.
Handling It Safely
What to wear
Honcho K6 carries the signal word CAUTION and can cause moderate eye irritation. Anyone mixing, loading or applying it needs a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, shoes with socks and chemical-resistant gloves made from a waterproof material.
Getting back on the ground
Agricultural uses covered by the Worker Protection Standard carry a restricted-entry interval of 4 hours, which is how long the treated area stays closed after spraying. Early-entry protective equipment requirements apply where the standard permits entry sooner. On labeled non-agricultural uses, people and pets stay off until the spray has dried.
Never galvanized or unlined steel
Do not mix, store or apply the spray solution in galvanized steel or unlined steel. Glyphosate solution reacts with those metals and gives off hydrogen gas, which can collect in an enclosed space and ignite from a spark, a flame, a welding torch or a cigarette. Stainless steel, fiberglass, plastic and plastic-lined steel are all suitable.
Keeping spray on target
Ground equipment should throw droplets coarse enough to fall where you aim them rather than a fine mist. Pressure, nozzle choice, boom height, wind speed and distance from susceptible plants all move spray off target. Aerial application is barred above 10 mph wind and carries extra requirements near non-target crops.
Water
Do not apply Honcho K6 directly to water, to ground where surface water is standing, or to intertidal areas below the mean high water mark. Equipment wash water and rinsate have to be kept out of waterways as well.
Storage and empty containers
Keep the container closed and stored away from food, pet food, animal feed, seed, fertilizer and veterinary supplies. The 2.5 gallon container is nonrefillable. Triple rinse, pressure rinse or use an equivalent procedure as soon as it empties, return the rinsate to the application system where the label permits, then recycle or dispose of the container under the rules that apply locally.
Customer Reviews
Honcho K6 is a powerful herbicide that can be mixed to varying strengths for all of your needs. I use this herbicide for weeds and unwanted shrubs, and trees. It works exactly as described and is very effective...
Jennifer R
This stuff is legit! It does take a few days to start seeing the results but man, does it work!! I underestimated how well, and got a little too close to some of my flowers but now I know. I'll be much more car...
Claughs
After an exposure to poison ivy I decided that even though Mother Nature has a sense of humor I tried this product. I used it as directed with Lazer dye for marking purposes and found that I had an upper hand i...
Charles Dodson
This product is a great way to kill unwanted weeks and plant life. Just be careful to not spray anything alive that you don't want to get rid of.
Jason Brunner
This keeps the weeds out for 6 months. Out performs everything I have tried.
Larry Meeks
One treatment and a week later all is dead. I love it.
Jim Martinez
About Honcho K6
EPA Registration No. 524-539 has been attached to Honcho for decades, and it traces back to the Monsanto glyphosate portfolio. Bayer completed its acquisition of Monsanto in June 2018, which folded that portfolio into the Bayer Crop Science business. Current Honcho K6 labeling names Bayer CropScience LP as the company packing the product, and state pesticide registers continue to list it. California carries Honcho K6 Herbicide under Bayer CropScience LP as an active registration.
What sits inside the jug is a working-acres formulation rather than a homeowner product. The 2.5 gallon container, the per-acre rate tables and the crop-by-crop sections all point at the same buyer: someone with a sprayer, a measured area and a reason to know what 4.5 pounds of acid equivalent per gallon means.
Its strength is uncomplicated. Treat susceptible, actively growing vegetation and give the herbicide time to travel through the plant. The same movement that reaches roots, rhizomes and perennial crowns is why placement near desirable plants has to be deliberate rather than approximate.
Honcho K6 also has a clear ceiling. It does not stop new seed from germinating, it does not tell a weed from a conventional crop, and it does not defeat glyphosate resistance by going above the labeled rate. Most apparent treatment failures turn out to be one of those three, or a timing problem, rather than a fault in the product.
Frequently Asked Questions
Honcho K6 is a concentrated, non-selective systemic herbicide containing 48.7% glyphosate in the form of its potassium salt. The formulation delivers 4.5 pounds of glyphosate acid equivalent per U.S. gallon and is classified as a Group 9 herbicide. It handles post-emergence control of annual and perennial weeds, grasses, woody brush, trees and vines across labeled agricultural, farmstead and vegetation-management sites.
Honcho K6 comes from Bayer CropScience and carries EPA Registration No. 524-539. That number started life in the Monsanto glyphosate range and passed to Bayer with the 2018 acquisition. The jug you receive is packed for Bayer CropScience LP.
Honcho K6 controls or suppresses a broad range of emerged grasses and broadleaf weeds, among them crabgrass, foxtail, barnyardgrass, pigweed, lambsquarters, morningglory, johnsongrass, quackgrass, field bindweed and nutsedge. Woody plants and vines on the list include blackberry, poison ivy, poison oak, multiflora rose and kudzu. Rates vary substantially by species, size and growth stage, so check the target weed against the container before mixing.
Glyphosate enters susceptible plants mainly through green foliage and travels to growing points and underground structures. It blocks EPSP synthase, an enzyme plants need to build certain amino acids. Growth halts first, then yellowing and wilting follow, then the plant dies. Annual weeds can begin showing symptoms within several days. Perennial and woody vegetation often takes a week or more.
Yes, within limits. Honcho K6 is systemic, so glyphosate moves out of treated foliage into roots, rhizomes and other growing tissue. That makes it a better fit for established perennial weeds than a herbicide that only burns the leaves it touches. Root control still depends on adequate leaf coverage, active growth and correct timing. Recently mowed or heavily stressed weeds may not take up enough for a complete kill.
No. Honcho K6 has no meaningful residual activity in soil. It controls plants that are already up and get hit by the spray, and it leaves no barrier against seed germinating later. New weeds can appear once the original vegetation dies. A site that needs longer control calls for a separate labeled residual herbicide or an approved tank-mix program.
The concentration depends on the target weed and the application method. Handheld mixing runs about 0.5 fluid ounce per gallon for a 0.4% solution, 1 fluid ounce for 0.7%, 1.3 fluid ounces for 1%, 2 fluid ounces for 1.5%, 5 fluid ounces for 4% and 9 fluid ounces for 7%. Small annual weeds normally take the lower concentrations. Harder perennial weeds, brush and certain directed applications call for stronger mixtures. The target species and use-site section of the container decide the legal rate.
There is no universal per-acre rate. Many annual weed programs run about 22 fluid ounces per acre for weeds under 6 inches tall, 32 fluid ounces for weeds from 6 to 12 inches and 44 fluid ounces once weeds pass 12 inches. Some species-specific annual weed treatments start as low as 11 fluid ounces per acre. Perennial weeds and woody vegetation can need considerably more. Crop applications add their own single-application and seasonal limits.
Yes. Surfactant is part of the formulation, so a separate one is not automatically needed when the herbicide is used alone. Additional nonionic surfactant is permitted or useful in specific situations, including some applications at high carrier volume or at rates below 16 fluid ounces per acre. More surfactant is not inherently better. Certain crop uses restrict extra surfactants and surfactant-containing additives outright, so add one only where the applicable directions allow it.
About four hours. Rainfall inside that window can wash herbicide off treated foliage and cut performance enough to require another application. Treat a four-hour rain-free period as the minimum unless a more specific section states otherwise. Plants also need time after spraying for glyphosate to travel through their tissues, so avoid mowing, cutting or otherwise disturbing treated perennial weeds right after application.
Yes, where the container permits that specific site. Farmstead uses include fence rows, equipment areas, storage areas, farm roads, driveways, dry ditches, ditch banks and ground around agricultural buildings. Because the herbicide is generally non-selective, overspray and drift have to be kept off vegetation that should stay alive. Green leaves, young stems and exposed non-woody roots of desirable plants can be damaged by fairly small amounts of glyphosate.
Honcho K6 is labeled for specified glyphosate-tolerant cropping systems, including certain Roundup Ready corn, soybean, cotton, canola, alfalfa and sugarbeet programs. Those applications control susceptible weeds without killing a compatible glyphosate-tolerant crop. The Roundup Ready trait does not remove rate or timing restrictions. Every crop has its own maximum single-application rates, seasonal limits, permitted growth stages and preharvest intervals, and those have to be followed exactly.
Yes. Honcho K6 covers foliar treatment of numerous woody brush species and vines, plus cut-stump applications for specified woody plants. For cut-stump work, apply it to the freshly cut surface shortly after the stem or trunk comes off, commonly at 50% to 100% product depending on the target and the directions given. Covering the cambium around the outside of the fresh cut matters most. Leave the method alone where grafted roots may link the stump to a tree you value, since the herbicide travels along that link.
No. Glyphosate products differ in salt form, acid-equivalent concentration, surfactant package and approved uses. Honcho K6 carries glyphosate as a potassium salt at 48.7%, equal to 4.5 pounds of glyphosate acid per gallon. Comparing products only by the percentage printed on the container is therefore misleading. Acid equivalent is the more useful measurement for how much glyphosate a formulation actually delivers. Do not substitute another glyphosate product ounce for ounce unless its concentration and directions support the same rate.
Honcho K6 is a concentrated professional-use herbicide capable of damaging desirable vegetation when applied incorrectly, so read the complete container label before mixing, spraying or tank mixing. Galvanized steel and unlined steel tanks are off limits for mixing, storage and application, because hydrogen gas comes off that reaction and burns. Use suitable spray equipment and the protective clothing the job requires. Honcho K6 never goes into water. Where the Worker Protection Standard applies, the treated area stays closed for four hours, and state restrictions, crop-specific directions and annual application limits can add more. The label attached to the container is the controlling instruction wherever it differs from general guidance.
Identify the Plant, Then Pick the Rate
Site first. Then the target plant, as closely as you can name it. Then its size or growth stage, then the equipment you will spray it with. The rate falls out of those four answers, and the container carries the one that applies to your job.
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