2-4-D for Dandelion Control?

[TerryinMD]

Hmmm... goats in the market garden. /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

After a couple of weeks, they would become fattened market goats!! /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif Nah... they wouldn't make it a couple of weeks. The CFO would have killed them the first day after seeing them eating away her hard work and profits!! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

This bind weed is so bad we are going to have to remove our long standing aspargus row because the stuff is getting so bad. We've lost about a third of the row due to this stuff. The weed grows up and in between the aspargus fonds which makes the use of a herbicide a little tough. /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

We started two new rows this spring in a totally different area.

Bind weed =1
Gardeners = 0

We expect to change that score this summer!! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Terry

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

I was at the local elevator a few years ago and this Lady came in and asked for another gallon of Trimec. The owner I was jawing with asked her how much ground she was spraying and she said, "just my yard".

Then he asked her what kind of sprayer she was using and she says "Oh, just a plain old pump sprayer and that last gallon didn't quite fill it."

-Pause- Then the owner says " Holly crap lady, you should read the label". "You could have sprayed a city block of yards with that last gallon if you mixed it properly".

Turns out it didn't hurt her lawn but I heard later that it stunted it.

I have used trimec myself and never had a problem with it... I knocks out the clover a other broadleaf just fine.

Also, I have respect for a name used earlier "Agent Orange". I have seen the results of it's spraying first hand. Been there, done that! 1969-1970....... Tom

 

[TerryinMD]

Why would you want to kill off the clover?

That's some good stuff to have in your yard. Reduces the amount of fertizer you may need. Clover fixes nitrogen in the soil plus it has a nice color - green. Green = good to me.

When I planted my yard a few years back, I purposely spread some white clover seed to so that I didn't have to fertilize as much. It worked until last year. The drough took the poor clover right out.

Terry

 

[mrolson]

My neighbors tried 2-4-d, not much success. I finally sprayed two back acres to kill the dandelion. They were just taking over. But I used MECAMINE-D, I watched em drop as I passed over /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. Now I need to overseed /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

 

[CGranat]

Trimec lists Bindweed as one of the broadleaf weeds that it kills. Trimec is a mixture of 2,4-D, MCPP, and Dicamba. I'm not sure which of those chemicals work on the Bindweed. Trimec Plus adds to those chemicals MSMA which will kill (post-emergent) crabgrass. I've used the Trimec to help establish a lawn. Hopefully, once it is established, I'll not need to use it or at least not very often. As for the application rate of any of these, you really need to read the label. I know of four different Trimec products that are primarily different in their concentration. I applied the type I got at four pints per acre in 35 gallons of water. This worked well for me.

 

[MODEERE]

The Dicamba / Banvel is the most active in killing bindweed with Tri-mec. The best time to kill bindweed is in the fall when the plant is getting ready for winter.

 

[TerryinMD]

Hmmmm... you guys just confirmed what I thought about bindweed. A pain to control. /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

Looks like late summer and fall will be the time to act.

Terry

 

[SGBotsford]

Bindweed requires disturbed soil to propagate, and can be crowded out if you have something that puts cover on the land quickly in spring.

The organic farms often go a high tillage route, which can be damaging, if you don't compensate with green manure. The kind of system they use to get rid of heavy weed infestations:

* Plant an annual crop that gets started FAST in spring. Buckwheat, flax have been suggested. Till it in just after it finishes blooming, before it sets seed. Replant with an annual legume. Peas, lentils, vetch. Till in when just past the bloom stage. Replant with annual rye. It won't have time (in our climate) to set seed before fall. In a warmer climate you may want a 4th crop in the mix.

You have to tune this to your weeds. Often just after tilling it, you have exposed a new set of seeds from the soil. So you don't replant right away, but wait 10 days or so and let the seeds germinate. Then harrow or disk lightly to knock out the seedlings, and plant your next crop.

In terms of your timing, try to avoid having your land open when the airborne seeds are flying. For me that's a couple weeks in June when the air is thick with dandelion, and another time in fall with thistle.

If you use your equipment on 'dirty' fields, it's worth spraying it down before working on the field you are trying to clean.

For market garden work, having a dauber is a great tool. Cleanout port, Chunk of ABSpipe, 3/4" threaded reducer, nipple, valve, nipple, reducer, short chunk of pipe, cement on cap. Drill a hole in the lower cap, about 1/16" in diameter. Fold a washcloth sized hunk of towel until it's about 4" square. Use another scrape about 10" square. Put the folded chunk over the hole, cover with the large scrap, pull tight, and bind to the pipe above the lower reducer using wire or nylon cable ties.

Fill with roundup, mixed at about double strength. It's tempting to use it full strength, but if it's too strong it kills the leaves before it's absorbed.

In use, the bottom valve is just cracked open, and the top cleanout port is also just cracked open so air can get in the pipe. Use it like a walking staff, and plonk down on a weed. Note that it will drip some, so watch where you wave it. Control the rate using the lower valve.

Tips: Fill procedure:
Close valve, remove cleanout plug. Fill. Replace plug. Shake (unless you pre-mixed)

Go to where you need to work.

OVER DIRT hold it upright, crack the plug open, open the valve full for a few seconds until the pad starts to drip. Close valve completely, then crack open.

Use. Roundup (glyphosate) is one of the safest ones to use. If you are working organically, you can try high strength vinegar.



In use the bottom valve is just barely