Thistles

[godaddy]

My son and myself are thistle hunters at our place in the upstate of sc this time of year. He is 10 and hates them as much as I do. He sees what they can do to a pasture already at a young age.

 

[dmccarty]

I used Roundup on Thistle and other weeds 3-4 weeks ago. The weeds finally browned up a died and I need to check the Thistle. Right now it is very low to the ground and hard to see.

A few years ago we were visiting a friend whose subdivision was built on farm land with house on roughly five acre lots. Across the street was a lot, no house, and the owner lived in another state. The lot was covered with 5-6 foot tall Thistle which was about to go to seed. Very pretty purple flowers.

Another neighbor had a Nortrac tractor and went to mow the Thistle. With a finish mower. He was getting it mowed but it was beating the heck out of his mower. He really needed a rotary cutter on that stuff since it was so tall and thick. I wanted to run my tractor over there to see how it would do with the Thistle.

Thistle sure is pretty. But it is not worth the purdyness. For some reason they found Thistle near old houses/settlements in Europe. I have not idea why. Nor why I have that little piece of near useless information in my head. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[slowzuki]

I've got a little patch, I keep after it with mowing 6-10 times a season, brushing on round-up 2 times per season. Its retreating about 50% per season. Probably 5 more years to go.

My milkweed infestation on the other hand, not so good. My regular mowing, hand pulling and spraying is just holding the line.

 

[duanekeys]

We have Boer and Nubian goats. They do love thistles...

 

[charlz]

So far Redeem is the best thing I have tried for Canada Thistle... it actually gets into the root system. Glyphosate kills the plant too fast for it to really get into the root system, which as already noted, can be extensive for Canada Thistle. Bull Thistle you can just cut off below the soil with a spade and it is done.

I don't think you will find an organic solution that will do a good job on Canada Thistle other than constant removal. By never letting the plant grow you are depriving the root system of stored energy and eventually it should run out and die. The rhizomes can cover a good area though so you have to be really vigilant.

 

[Rob-D]

So far Redeem is the best thing I have tried for Canada Thistle... it actually gets into the root system. Glyphosate kills the plant too fast for it to really get into the root system, which as already noted, can be extensive for Canada Thistle. Bull Thistle you can just cut off below the soil with a spade and it is done.

I don't think you will find an organic solution that will do a good job on Canada Thistle other than constant removal. By never letting the plant grow you are depriving the root system of stored energy and eventually it should run out and die. The rhizomes can cover a good area though so you have to be really vigilant.

I think you're right about the organic side, I don't think there's something that will do it. I've been going out with a spade and cutting them off to the root.
I'll see this year if my efforts from last year did any good! Definitely don't let them go to seed!

Rob