weed control in planted pines

[barrentine]

whats the best thing to use for weed control in planted pines?

 

[missingstexas]

24D. /thread

 

[Pilot]

Uhm, my knowledge is pretty old, but I think pines are very susceptible to 2,4-D. A quick internet search shows some studies confirming this. May vary with the specific species of pine.

 

[missingstexas]

24d is a broad leaf herbicide. I don't have lots of experience with it relative to pines and I realize I must have sounded like a turd being so short. I have used it on fence lines and in hay fields and it didn't bother our long leaf pines where it killed scub oaks and tallow trees.

 

[om21braz]

Here's a link to a brochure that will give you some idea of what chemicals are used, times to apply, etc.

http://www.dfr.state.nc.us/publications/Forestry Leaflets/FM19.pdf

 

[clemsonfor]

Amazpyr (spelling) which is bottled under the trade name Arsenel. It has no effect on pines but will smoke hardwoods and herbacious weeds. It is commonly used in forestry and railroad ROW's and powerlines. This is VERY expensive

You can always use Glyphosate or trade name Roundup. This yes will kill pines but assuming they are tall enough to get the crowns out of the spray it has no effect on the bark of a pine tree nor is glyphosate soil active. It is systemic and has to be applied to green foliage or a wound or green stem. You can pour the stuff on the ground and it wont kill anything but the weeds it hits on its way to the soil. It quickly forms crystals in the soil and is harmless to everything including plants animals and humans. This would be my prefered route assuming the pines are say 5-6feet tall at least. Some overspray on a branch will not kill the tree at worst it will kill the branch but most likely will only cause the effected needles to drop and tip kill that spot.

Just so you know i am a forester as well as a licensed Pesticide/herbicide applicator. Not saying i know everything but im pointing this out just so you know im not just saying what i think and have no knowledge of the subject.

 

[SandburRanch]

http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/spray/pubs/documents/Aavimhowtomakearopewick.pdf

At one time wick applicators were popular for applying glyphosate to unwanted rye in wheat fields. I don't know if the applicators can be purchased commercially anymore but the advantage was no over spray and only a very small percent of the product was needed compared to spraying. They may have gone out of favor because they were slow. But sometimes good things take a little longer.

 

[clemsonfor]

They still make wick applicators. But with the OP's question i took this as either these are old field planted pines so maybe there is a lot of grass under them or either they are trying to kill the grass between trees while mowing between rows, OR the tress are 50-80ft tall and is pretty much just a straw layer on the ground no midstory hardwood but he wants to kill the dandelions bushes small sweetgums or say random grasses dispersed throughout the big trees so that all there will be is big trees and bare straw ground.

 

[wolc123]

You can also use gly anytime the pines are dormant, which may be almost 6 months depending on your lattitude.

 

[forgeblast]

Is it a new planting ie seedlings, or an older planting you want to maintain?

 

[clemsonfor]

You can also use gly anytime the pines are dormant, which may be almost 6 months depending on your lattitude.

The key is where you live. I dont think i would really trust this to an unexperienced applicator. Also if the pines are dormant most likely the key weeds he wants to tackle are as well. Spraying roundup on browned out centipede grass for example will do nothing. The other thing is that under 60 degrees or so air temp glyphosate dosent work to well. Some of this is due to a volitilization on the leaves and entrace to the spiricles and stuff, but this is on a molecular level and plant biology level that i really dont understand perfectly.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

roundup is cheap and easy. Get a section of stovepipe or round air duct to slide over the seedling to you don't get any on the tree, and spray a 3' circle around the tree. You will be amazed how much faster a seedling grows if it doesn't have to compete with grasses and weeds.

 

[clemsonfor]

Depending on what you do for a living you may have access other things you can used like the stove pipe to protect it. This is only for really young trees and really can only be done on the small scale though unless you have tons of time on your hands! Anyway if you have a buch of traffic cones you can use them the same way. Have a helper and like 6 cones and just keep hoping them foward every so often. Or if you are in construction or hae a buch of 5 gallon buckets like from jointcompount or even semi clean oil buckets, not still dripping!, you can use those upside down.

Is the OP even still here?

 

[ihookem]

Unless weeds are very agressive you don't need to do anything. Mt white pines do better in the weeds than the ones I trim around. Where you live may be different.

 

[Western]

In East Texas I see them burn off the weeds and invasive brush allot, on older groves 20' or higher of course. I don't know if it's the forest service, but likely the timber owner wheirhouser (SP) maybe .

May not be an option for you though.

 

[Egon]

Spread some pine needles about.:thumbsup:

 

[forester2]

I've used the traffic cones too; works great. I've also made a side shield on a boom to stop drift to the seedlings using Roundup and spraying the rows.

 

[clemsonfor]

Burning is an option assuming the canopy is high enough and you have enough wind to disperse the heat before you get crown scorch. This is a risky thing here in the south before the first thin usually aroung 16 yrs old. Things can quickly turn from a controlled burn doing good to controlled wildfire causing a pulpwood salvage sale.

Unless the weeds are taller than the tree and its more than say 5-10 arcres i would do nothing. You WILL get a benefit in young trees by haveing a bare dirt site vs herbacious growth under it for the first few years, but honstly for most of us it wont really matter after those first few years. An extra 2 cords an acre on 15 acres really isnt all that much after you figure all the effort you went through and all the herbicide you bought, but for the large industrial landowner with 100,000 acres they start to notice the extra 2 cds an acre. They still will not pay more to herbicide than they get in benefit though. The key times to herbicide if NEEDED is at planting, say a release application at 4-7 yrs old and then a mid rotation hardwood control sometime after the first few thinnings when the hardwood ingrowth starts to take hold.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

The real advantage of weed control is seedling survival the first 3 years. Once the seedlings are established, they will out-compete the weeds.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

With 8000 white pine and tamarack in the ground over the last few years I have had some practice with Roundup. The backpack sprayer and plastic-pail-with-bottom-cut-out-on-a-handle approach works well if you are young and there aren't too many to do. For long runs, though, an electric sprayer in the back of my Polaris Ranger running off the accessory power and a wand on a 15' hose works better. Princess Auto sells a dandy for about a hundred dollars. The downside is that someone needs to drive the Ranger.

I use about a 3% solution and take great care to keep drips off the little trees, especially walnut seedlings.

Last year I put 14 hours on the Ranger spraying with this rig. It went well, though I still mow around the trees. Roundup won't last the season in Eastern Ontario; the second application worked through to now, though. I'll need to get at them in the next two weeks.

My equipment-savvy neighbour took a look at my setup and promptly bought a copy of the sprayer to use on his friend's Ranger.