Red rooted pigweed??

[Tom Naumcheff]

I asked a farmer next to my property to mow a food plot for me a couple of weeks ago since I could't make it down in time. He sent me the following pic, the plot was full of these gigantic weeds which he called red rooted pigweed. He was as surprised as I was since neither of us had seen it before on our properties or our other neighbors. I had planted some buckwheat and a strip of iron clay peas but everything got choked out by this stuff. I bought the seeds from a reliable source so I'm sure I didn't get the wrong seed.

Any ideas where this could have come from in such great numbers??? Its almost like someone planted it but it wasn't me. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Heart shot]

Tough to tell from the pic, but it could be the mature buckwheat?

 

[Tom Naumcheff]

Fair question, especially since I've not planted it before. I don't think so since the pics I've seen of mature buckwheat have a white flower and don't appear to be six ft tall like this stuff. Also the farmer never mentioned that possibility and he has some familiarity with buckwheat.
Thanks for the reply

 

[Tom Naumcheff]

I'll try to post a better pic tomorrow

 

[Scatterlandsfarms]

you have unleashed the demon of all plants spray it now with strike 3 and be prepared to spray again come next summer if its pigweed looks like it to me

 

[Tom Naumcheff]

That's what I've been reading. I'm ready to go down there again this weekend and spray gly on the plants that are still uncut. Does gly kill it? Still a mystery where it came from in such great numbers.

 

[FarmerD]

It's also known by the name of Palmer Amaranth and Waterhemp and there are varieties of it that are glyphosate resistant. You have several bajillion weed seeds growing there that can stay viable for a long time. Make sure it doesn't go to seed. You may be battling this for a couple of years.

https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/palmer-amaranth-id-biology-and-management

 

[catscratch]

That's what I've been reading. I'm ready to go down there again this weekend and spray gly on the plants that are still uncut. Does gly kill it? Still a mystery where it came from in such great numbers.

Gly will only kill any plants that compete with it, otherwise it does nothing to pigweed. Do any farmers in the area use Liberty beans? If so you might be able to buy a little of their herbicide from one of them. It works on pigweed.

 

[THE LLC]

I've never had any problems killing pigweed with glyphosate---white root or red. But, as others have said, DO NOT let it go to seed. Unfortunately it looks like it already has.

 

[j-bird]

I agree in thinking it is indeed pigweed. I know it is fairly gly resistant here as well. Use a broadleaf specific herbicide to fight it. And plan on planting a plot based on grasses (cereal grains or corn) that way you can smack this stuff around. If it goes to seed....and it looks like its working on it.....you will have a mess mess and be fighting it for years to come. Only other option is to look into a weed wiper situation where you can kill the more mature weeds as they will be talled than the other(and shorter) broadleaf plot plants.

it can come from the deer or birds or other equipment that have been used in that plot. it could be from dormant seed just sitting in the ground waiting for the chance to germinate as well depending on if you have done any ground work.

 

[catscratch]

My experience with pigweed; I have some growing in the gravel of my driveway. It gets ran over every day and it has been sprayed multiple times with both gly and 2,4d. It is short, low, and beat the hell up... and still making seed! Do not go lightly with this stuff! If you spray it with gly and it doesn't die then find what WILL kill it and spray it.

 

[wsucoug]

Fyi, Raptor is labeled for pig weed. I would assume raptor and imox would work when the plants are smaller and if you where wanting to put the plot in clover or chicory.

 

[dogghr]

First thing to control it is get your ph up to speed.

 

[bigbluetruck]

If the seeds are still green, the seed isn't viable yet. It is the most vile plant on this earth! We battle it constantly here. If you can still kill it with Rup, consider yourself lucky, but know that soon it wont anymore, ours drinks Rup like water, doesn't even slow it down. 2-4D and Dicamba will still kill it, but not at that size. In 2 days it can grow 4" or more, Ive got some in a corn field that's pushing 10-12ft tall, puts out 100s of thousands of seeds that will stay in the soil for many years, Ive seen it come up in the late fall, get 6" tall and make viable seeds. It has many growing points, so unless you get all of them with chemical, it will slow down but still make seeds.

The only way to control it is make sure it never starts growing, which is going to make food plotting difficult. You may need to go to notill and use corn and beans for a few years to make sure you can use chemicals to keep them in check. And whatever you do, do not be afraid to destroy the best food plot you've ever raised just to make sure it doesn't set seed. Shredding it off now is the best bet then come back with a very strong rate of 2-4D or Dicamba in a couple weeks when it starts to grow again.

Another option is to wait until winter or early spring and burn the field, then plow it under as deep as possible and bury what it doesn't burn. It needs sunlight to sprout so as long as it stays buried, it wont sprout.

 

[bigbluetruck]

Gly will only kill any plants that compete with it, otherwise it does nothing to pigweed. Do any farmers in the area use Liberty beans? If so you might be able to buy a little of their herbicide from one of them. It works on pigweed.

Liberty wont touch that stuff, IIRC the label calls for it to be 6" or less.

Your farmer better get familiar with it, he will have it sooner or later. My guess is it may have come with some seed, could've been years ago too.

 

[Tom Naumcheff]

Wow, thanks for the responses but wow. There are some plants still growing at the corners of my plot and I'll be down again this weekend to pull them and gly anything that looks like it could be trying to grow. Still a mystery of where it came from.

 

[swat1018]

I have had good luck killing it with Liberty, but it was small. Gly does nothing to it in the midwest.

 

[FarmerD]

What would I do? I'd disc that patch up, of sprayed pigweed and put it back in the ground. The great part about pigweed, is it does have a long tap root and it does pull nutrients up, from below, so, you're winning in that situation. The other thing is pigweed does frost kill, so, if you work the ground up now, anything that germinates and grows will be killed off with the first big frost. Not sure where you're located?

The next thing I would do, is plant cereal rye, crimson clover and a medium red clover. Let the medium red clover grow next year and don't plant a summer crop. A good "stand" of anything will help suppress it next year.

 

[bigbluetruck]

What would I do? I'd disc that patch up, of sprayed pigweed and put it back in the ground. The great part about pigweed, is it does have a long tap root and it does pull nutrients up, from below, so, you're winning in that situation. The other thing is pigweed does frost kill, so, if you work the ground up now, anything that germinates and grows will be killed off with the first big frost. Not sure where you're located?

The next thing I would do, is plant cereal rye, crimson clover and a medium red clover. Let the medium red clover grow next year and don't plant a summer crop. A good "stand" of anything will help suppress it next year.

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The last thing I'd do is disk it, those things are tough and it will probably just bring up new seed or plant any that is viable.

I wouldnt waste my time with Rup, at least put 2-4D in with it and give yourself a fighting chance

IDC what anyone says theres nothing "good" about pigweed, there are other covers that will do the same with the issues.

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[bigbluetruck]

Wow, thanks for the responses but wow. There are some plants still growing at the corners of my plot and I'll be down again this weekend to pull them and gly anything that looks like it could be trying to grow. Still a mystery of where it came from.

If you pull them, take them to a gravel yard or something like that and then when they dry up, burn them, dont just lay them down on the ground because they can and will root back down if you get a rain within a day or 2 of pulling.

Also make sure you get the whole root, if it snaps off at the ground, it will grow back

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