Broadleaf selective herbicide
- Thread starter David
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j-bird
Well-Known Member
Why a selective herbicide? Smack it with gly! As long as the target weeds are actively growing go for it. Some will tell you to have a certain temp minimum when you apply so that may be more of an issue than anything. Early spring is a great time to kill thistles......kill'em while they are small. May not be as good on your clover however...... I typically control broadleaf in clover by moving and then slap with gly once the clover goes mostly dormant during the summer heat. It then bounces back by fall.
David
Active Member
Why selective herbicide? because I'm a chicken and I'm scared I will permanently damage my clover with gly. I know some folks do it, but chalk me up as reluctant to try it. This is my first year attempting a perrinial plot, so it's important to me to see if I can get it to last multiple years. I also have oats as a nurse crop and want to see how long they last.
FarmerD
Active Member
2,4d-b and you can spray now, but do it ahead of the rains coming and read the label My weeds are actively growing, so you're good.
If you put down 40 - 50 lbs/acre of oats, there's enough room for the clover to do well, so leave it. If you put down 100+ lbs/acre of oats, then they are likely hindering your clover and really doesn't serve much purpose for you, until the oats seed out. At 100+ lbs/acre, I would spray the oats with clethodim or use a weed wiper on it, with glyphosate.
With your 3 acres, you can always use a hoe (old school) on the thistle or carry a pump spray can around and nuke it where it stands. Same with plantain, but I assume the plantain might be spread over a larger area.
If you put down 40 - 50 lbs/acre of oats, there's enough room for the clover to do well, so leave it. If you put down 100+ lbs/acre of oats, then they are likely hindering your clover and really doesn't serve much purpose for you, until the oats seed out. At 100+ lbs/acre, I would spray the oats with clethodim or use a weed wiper on it, with glyphosate.
With your 3 acres, you can always use a hoe (old school) on the thistle or carry a pump spray can around and nuke it where it stands. Same with plantain, but I assume the plantain might be spread over a larger area.
David
Active Member
Thanks....this is actually for two other 1 acre plots that are pure clover stands with better soils.
I appreciate the help.
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Tap
Well-Known Member
"so thistle"...was that a typo? spell check? Did you mean sow thistle? The variety of thistle will have a bearing on how to deal with it.
David
Active Member
Correction....it's not sow thistle.... (that was a mis-type) I took my books with me into the field today and can't remeber what the name was, but I do remeber I determined it's not sow thistle.
Here is a picture from last year.
Also the plantain, although still in rosettes, is very abundant. Plot looks great, but last year by mid June was in terrible shape.
If it were just thistle I would do it by hand with a hoe or spot spray gly.
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Tap
Well-Known Member
There's 3 thistle varieties that I know of...Bull, Russian, and Canada. The Canada variety is the worst IMO. I've mowed it, pulled it, dug it, and sprayed it with at least a half dozen different herbicides. The stuff is troublesome. Pulling and digging seems to make it worse because it will sucker from it's very extensive root system.Correction....it's not sow thistle.... (that was a mis-type) I took my books with me into the field today and can't remeber what the name was, but I do remeber I determined it's not sow thistle.
Here is a picture from last year.
Also the plantain, although still in rosettes, is very abundant. Plot looks great, but last year by mid June was in terrible shape.
If it were just thistle I would do it by hand with a hoe or spot spray gly.
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shawn cox
Well-Known Member
just let it be until it gets hot and then hit it with gly. I was a chicken at first but I do it now with no worries.
Tap
Well-Known Member
Are you saying to spray gly on clover during the heat of summer?
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Tap
Well-Known Member
I first heard of the idea of spraying clover with a weak gly mixture from the noted habitat manager Ed Spinazzola. Ed advised in his book and at seminars, to spray clover with roundup when is was NOT stressed (and at least 2 years old). He always said to do it in May, if I remember correctly. I've followed his instructions and it always worked the way he predicted...everything would look dead within a couple weeks but then the clover would soon bounce back. It did for me.
But I've come to believe that spraying weak glyphosate isn't a responsible thing to do. Yeah, it may work the way Ed said on clover but I fear it's only a short-term band aid. I guess the important thing to keep in mind is what exactly are the weeds that are an issue. Some weeds are easily killed with gly, even at lower doses, and other weeds are difficult to control with gly even at high doses. I think that trying to control highly resistant, or moderately resistant weeds with weak gly is just inviting a long term problem. Spraying weak gly is contributing to the glyphosate resistant weed problem.
In my case, I've been having difficulty with Canada Thistle for several years. I've tried everything from mowing, to pulling, to digging, to chemical control of various approaches. I've sprayed weak gly, labeled mixtures of gly and even heavy doses of gly. I've sprayed gly on thistle in early spring thru the flower stage and the stuff always came back. It wasn't until I switched to Clopyralid 3 (recommended by Wes Weaver of Keystone Pest) that I finally seem to be getting the thistle under control.
But one issue with the C3 is that it does kill clover, but my priority was eradicating the thistle. So I've spot sprayed individual thistle plants with C3 and dye. I also over seed rye or oats into the thistle as I spray it. Sort of like a chemical version of mow and throw. When the thistle dies it becomes thatch for the grain seed.
Bentazon 4 (replaced Bassagran) may be an option. It's labeled for Canada Thistle all the way to the bud stage. I believe it's safe on clover but you'd better check for yourself.
Canada Thistle is a major headache for some of us plotters. It seems to grow just fine among our perennials and most herbicides that are strong enough to control (not just suppress) the thistle will also kill the forage. And left alone, the thistle gets worse and worse. Either get it controlled early with spot spraying, or risk having to destroy most of the clover later on, but whatever you do, don't let the stuff multiply.
And no, mowing doesn't control it. I tried that approach unsuccessfully for years. Can't mow it short enough, at the right time of the season without hurting the plot. And the thistle that gets run over with tractor wheels doesn't get mowed and still produces flowers. And mowing doesn't kill the extensive root system.
Cap'n
Active Member
Any of yall ever seen this? It's against the law to let thistle grow on your land in many states.http://oces.okstate.edu/caddo/agriculture/Oklahoma Noxious Weed Law.pdf
It's a real problem. Not so much in a monocot pasture, but in clover or any broadleaf crop it's tough. I saw a crew last year in a soybean field with hoes chopping out the thistle. Must have been non RR beans is all I could figure. Either that or punishment.
It's a real problem. Not so much in a monocot pasture, but in clover or any broadleaf crop it's tough. I saw a crew last year in a soybean field with hoes chopping out the thistle. Must have been non RR beans is all I could figure. Either that or punishment.
Tap
Well-Known Member
Holy crap, they designate 10 or more plants per acre as being a "severe" infestation?? I've had 10 plants in the size of a one car garage
I've tried controlling it with a hoe and shovel. It may stop it from flowering but you can't get all of the extensive root system and the stuff just re-sprouts. Chemical control is the only way to get rid of it.
