thistle: mow or spray

[dcyrilc]

I would not use round-up because you will kill everything next to the thistle as well and leave a dead spot which will invite other weeds or more thistles. Any drifting of spray will kill stuff in the path. Also round-up costs much more and IMHO there are better and cheaper sprays for that task. I spray canadian thistle and use 2-4-D in a fairly strong mix. A good stand of grass to compete with the thistle is probably the best way to compete for the long term. Don't overgraze or mow to much.

I have to agree here. I prefer Crossbow from Dow Chemicles. It doesn't kill the grass, but be careful if using it around your wifes flowerbeds. It will kill almost all broad leaf plants and most conifers. Pretty much, if it's not grass, it's dead! As others have said though, getting it during the active growing period is the key to success.

 

[jlrsn]

I tried Round-up but it didn't do anything to the thistle. I then read about the toxicity to humans of Round-up and the fact that my well was within 75 feet of the thistle. A lady down the road told me that she was controlling her thistle with paint thinner that she applied with a paint brush. I went over to her place and everything that she had treated was dead!!
Jim

 

[CTW]

Give Remedy a try. Works well on all types of undesirables down here in South Texas, including thistle. Look on the bright side, at least Huisache and Mesquite hasn't made it to your neck of the woods...yet.

 

[forester2]

You've got to be kidding. Worried about toxicity but would use paint thinner as opposed an EPA labeled and studied to death herbicide. Read the relative material data sheets and tell me about the comparible toxicity.

 

[pitt_md]

I recomend the sprayer. You need to kill the darn things not just cut them off. I have a sprayer that I mount on the back of my ATV that holds about 25 galons. Last year was the first year that I got around to spraying the thistles but I completely cleared them out of my new horse pasture. In my other pasture I have been mowing them for years before they blossom and it has done no good.

IPlayFarmer - I am finding out that the rumor you heard about killing them three times is pretty accurate. The first time I hit the thistles they wilted badly but over a few weeks time I noticed the buds starting to turn up and the plants getting stronger. I sprayed them again and they died. I used a spray that did not kill the grass/clover around the thistles and is supposed to be safe for animals to graze after a couple weeks. I did not put my horses in the new pasture for a couple of months due to the fence not being up yet.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I'm thinking I'll end up using curtail at some point. So far all I've used is 2-4-D and roundup. I've been targeting other broadleaf with the 2-4-D, and I killed off one pasture with a roundup/2-4-D mix prior to renovating. The only grazing restriction I've seen on 2-4-D is for meat animals. I.e. you can't graze the animal within XX days if you're going to eat it within XX weeks. That being said, I still would keep my horses off the pasture for a week after using 2-4-D.

This spring I'm planning to round-up another few times on the dead pasture, and then prep a seed bed and plant pasture grass. I can witness that tilling only propogates thistle. I tilled last spring, and it seems I have 5 times as much thistle there now.

 

[old8nguy]

Burn your pastures and fencelines, if you can, early in the spring. Then do the mowing and spraying. It takes all 3 for me to keep the upper hand. It could almost be a full time job trying to keep thistles and serecia killed out.

 

[jlrsn]

You've got to be kidding. Worried about toxicity but would use paint thinner as opposed an EPA labeled and studied to death herbicide. Read the relative material data sheets and tell me about the comparable toxicity.

If you feel that Roundup is environmentally safe and non toxic to humans that is your right. I've been around enough years to see many supposedly safe chemicals banned worldwide. I've been spayed with DDT and any number of chemicals here in the States and Internationally that were supposedly safe.

Then again how could I ever doubt that the manufacturer of Roundup could ever manufacture anything toxic to humans. After all, Monsanto is on record stating that Roundup is "as safe as table salt!". Monsanto also manufactured Agent Orange, Bovine Growth Hormones, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), Carcinogenic Herbicides, PCBs, and DDT, all of which we were told were safe!!.

Read what I stated. I did not state that I used Paint Thinner to control Thistle. I stated that a lady down the road told me that she was controlling her thistle with paint thinner that she applied with a paint brush. I stated that I pull the thistle out by the root and also don't let them go to seed.

Jim

 

[Iplayfarmer]

... I stated that I pull the thistle out by the root and also don't let them go to seed...

That seems to be the biggest step in prevention... Don't let them go to seed! Whether you kill them, mow them, pull them or whatever; keep them from reproducing.

 

[3BPercherons]

I'm thinking I'll end up using curtail at some point. So far all I've used is 2-4-D and roundup. I've been targeting other broadleaf with the 2-4-D, and I killed off one pasture with a roundup/2-4-D mix prior to renovating. The only grazing restriction I've seen on 2-4-D is for meat animals. I.e. you can't graze the animal within XX days if you're going to eat it within XX weeks. That being said, I still would keep my horses off the pasture for a week after using 2-4-D.

This spring I'm planning to round-up another few times on the dead pasture, and then prep a seed bed and plant pasture grass. I can witness that tilling only propogates thistle. I tilled last spring, and it seems I have 5 times as much thistle there now.

That's a bit of over-kill (no pun intended) isn't it? On the advice of my local extension agent I used round-up to kill off a pasture in early fall, waited 2 weeks and then used a no-till drill to seed a good pasture mix. By the following spring I had a good pasture started, and by the fall it was ready for the horses.