First year hay field management and thistle

[petebert]

I have a 3 acre field that was seeded for pasture last fall. Eventually it will be used for pasture but I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to fence it so in the mean time it will be used for hay. I've heard that I won't want to cut it until late this first year so that it will seed itself.

Is there anything I can do about the thistle? Earlier in the year I was driving around with my ATV and a hand sprayer and spraying individual thistle plants with round up. This had been working pretty well but all of a sudden in the last few weeks the thistle has really exploded so spraying one at a time doesn't seem too feasible now. Should I try brush hogging the thistle patches? I was thinking of trying it with the 3 point arms all the way up to try and preserve the stuff in the field that I do want and it will at least cut the heads off the thistle so it can't seed.

 

[flusher]

If the weeds stand taller than the good stuff, you can use a wick applicator (aka weed wiper) to apply your favorite herbicide.



Here's what I rigged up on the FEL of my Mahindra 5525 tractor.
The modules are 5-ft long and cost about $110.
I use 3 modules.

You can buy them at AgriSupply.com

Good luck

 

[My Gym]

I purchased a property in 2011 that had a severe musk thistle problem. I have done a large amount of research on controlling them and have 5 years experience. The use of roundup is actually making the problem worse. Roundup kills anything green that it contacts and is only effective for a short time. Thistle seeds stay active in the soil for over 10 years. When you spot spray roundup, you kill active plants and provide clear ground for thistle seeds to grow. Thistles has a 2 year life cycle. the first year thistle grows to a plant like a dandilion and the second year it shoots up and flowers. You need to spray the field with a broadleaf plant killer such as 2-4-D It will kill first and second year thistle. With the thistle at the stage of your picture, your best bet is to pick the flowers, bag them and burn them. A single flower can produce 20,000 seeds and will last in the soil for 10 years. Brush hogging at the flowered stage puts a lot of viable seeds into your soil. With the level of infestation, you will need to spray with broad leaf such as 24D every other year for several years

 

[Jerry/MT]

I have a 3 acre field that was seeded for pasture last fall. Eventually it will be used for pasture but I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to fence it so in the mean time it will be used for hay. I've heard that I won't want to cut it until late this first year so that it will seed itself.

Is there anything I can do about the thistle? Earlier in the year I was driving around with my ATV and a hand sprayer and spraying individual thistle plants with round up. This had been working pretty well but all of a sudden in the last few weeks the thistle has really exploded so spraying one at a time doesn't seem too feasible now. Should I try brush hogging the thistle patches? I was thinking of trying it with the 3 point arms all the way up to try and preserve the stuff in the field that I do want and it will at least cut the heads off the thistle so it can't seed.

At the growth stage your picture shows, removing the seed heads is all you can do. Roundup is the wrong stuff to use since it kills the grass also. Something like Weedmaster or Rangestar ( 2,4-D + dicamba) applied in the early spring when the plants are in the rosette stage or even less than 6 inches will generally kill them before they flower. Topping them with a rotary cutter will keep the seed from spreading but if the seeds have formed you'll just have them in the same spot again IF they germinate.

 

[MF283]

I use to have those things all over my 35 acres, as the other's have stated, 2-4-d for a few years & mow early to keep them knocked down.
I'm in the process of mowing fields now, spotted about a dozen of them, mainly in fence rows & our mini donkey loves those things once they flower, helps a lot to.

Ronnie

 

[D2Cat]

All those purple flowers will be blown by the wind like a dandelion, and you'll have a kazillion of them next year! The only way you will save your field from them is to pick the heads BEFORE they mature and blow away.

Take a trash bag or empty feed sack, wear welding gloves go get busy. Have someone with you spraying the plant with 2-4-D as soon as you pull the flower. Spray a fine mist, and be sure to get some of the chemical in the stem where you pulled off the flower.

When you're done picking the flowers DO NOT BURN them immediately. Soak the bag of flower with diesel. After a few days it OK to burn. If you burn them before letting the flower absorb the diesel they will pop from the heat...and you end up right where you started.....seeds everywhere.

If it looks like work now....let them blow away....and you WILL have work for the next few years!

 

[RPW]

Pretty much what others have said. I spray early with a 2-4-d variant (don't remember the brand name) that I get from our local dealer and it's very effective. I can spray a couple times a year without any problems and I've pretty much eliminated all thistle in my fields. I'm working on the rest of the property to eliminate as much as possible all weeds as time permits.

 

[petebert]

Do you know what percentage 2-4-d your using? I picked up a small bottle to try and did a 1.5% mixture and so far it's just making the thistle look sad and droopy. I don't know if it just takes longer but it hasn't inialated it like round up does.

 

[mattv1]

not sure what the percentage is, but... I have 25 gallon sprayers. For weeds and pasture spraying I use roughly 18 ounces of 2-4-D and 18 ounces of Trimec in tank. It's done quite well for me the last several years but the trimec is hard on clover.

 

[Ford850]

For big mature Bull thistle, I think it will take some time, and a strong mix. Also, hot and dry weather will hurt your results, in case you have that now. For my location, it hasn't been this dry in quite a few years. I can forget about spraying unless we get soaking rains to get things actively growing again.