Corey Peterson
5 year old buck +
Anybody ever buy or build a weed wick to kill grass in thier clover plots?
Weed wick
- Thread starter Corey Peterson
- Start date
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Yes. I bought one from Rodgers. It works well. It is 10' long and I rigged to replace the bucket on my FEL. That lets me easily adjust the height from the cab. Clover is a great application for it. You can non-selective herbicides or herbicides not labeled for your crop in a selective manner by height. You can use inexpensive gly in a very economical fashion. That will kill both grasses and most broadleaf weeds. If you have problematic weed that gly will not kill, you can use herbicides labeled to kill the specific weed and not worry about your clover getting hurt.
I will say that I originally had clover plots that looked pristine. I have since become much more weed tolerant. Deer don't benefit from the added cost and time maintain pristine looking fields. Many of the "weeds" are better food for deer than the clover itself. Nature doesn't produce many monocultures and there is a reason. Some of my fields are so grown up in the summer, you wouldn't even recognize them as clover fields. That doesn't bother deer at all. They use them just as much. Come fall and the cooler wetter conditions favor the clover, I mow it. By the time the season rolls around these fields have a very high percentage of clover.
When a clover fields get real bad, I now just spray it with 1 qt glyphosate to suppress it and drill cereal or radish into it. This usually doesn't happen for about 7 years if I start with best practices and a clean field by planting Durana in the fall with a Winter Rye cover crop and mowing on a timely basis in the spring to release the Durana. I can usually get a few more years out of the field before needing to rotate for a growing season or two before going back to clover.
My wicking bar doesn't get much use these days but every now and then, there is a situation where it comes in handy!
Thanks,
Jack
I will say that I originally had clover plots that looked pristine. I have since become much more weed tolerant. Deer don't benefit from the added cost and time maintain pristine looking fields. Many of the "weeds" are better food for deer than the clover itself. Nature doesn't produce many monocultures and there is a reason. Some of my fields are so grown up in the summer, you wouldn't even recognize them as clover fields. That doesn't bother deer at all. They use them just as much. Come fall and the cooler wetter conditions favor the clover, I mow it. By the time the season rolls around these fields have a very high percentage of clover.
When a clover fields get real bad, I now just spray it with 1 qt glyphosate to suppress it and drill cereal or radish into it. This usually doesn't happen for about 7 years if I start with best practices and a clean field by planting Durana in the fall with a Winter Rye cover crop and mowing on a timely basis in the spring to release the Durana. I can usually get a few more years out of the field before needing to rotate for a growing season or two before going back to clover.
My wicking bar doesn't get much use these days but every now and then, there is a situation where it comes in handy!
Thanks,
Jack
Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
I tried one once and wasn't that impressed with it. I have better luck spraying Clethodim (and crop oil) for grasses. I bought some 2-4, DB to try out this year for broadleaf in clover. I know the label doesn't say to use in on clovers but from what I understand it does a good job on broadleaf weeds and doesn't set the clover back too badly at all.
FarmerDan
5 year old buck +
The play is on the difference in height between what you hope to kill and what you wish to save. And, if you have some weeds the same height of your clover they survive. Having said that....
I prefer this means of weed control in clover. Fill the sucker with glyphosate and roll. No worries with adjuvants or crop oils. It works on grasses and broadleaf weeds. The rate of coverage per quart of glyphosate is phenomenal. I know, cost doesn't matter, but if you have any reservations about how much pesticide you use and the POTENTIAL adverse effects this just might be your baby!
I prefer this means of weed control in clover. Fill the sucker with glyphosate and roll. No worries with adjuvants or crop oils. It works on grasses and broadleaf weeds. The rate of coverage per quart of glyphosate is phenomenal. I know, cost doesn't matter, but if you have any reservations about how much pesticide you use and the POTENTIAL adverse effects this just might be your baby!
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
And that is why I found it so effective (when I was more worried about weeds than I am today). I typically plant Durana which is a low growing uniform height clover. Most grasses and weeds out grow it quickly and it was easy to set the bar so the weeds took all the herbicide and the clover had no ill effects. With most selective herbicides you stress all of the plants sprayed. They simply stress some plants to the point of death while stress on your selected plants is much less. So the final result is that your selected plants are advantaged relative to the plants you are spraying to kill. With a wicking bar, since the selector is height, plants below the height are generally not stressed beyond the occasional drip.
Like most things, matching the tool to your application is the key.
Thanks,
Jack
Corey Peterson
5 year old buck +
Thanks everyone for the info. I’ve got a few plots that have been getting worse and I’m trying to decide whether or not to burn the whole thing down and reseed, but I think I’ll try some clethodim, and a weed wick first.
Corey Peterson
5 year old buck +
I do have a atv sprayer with a 4’ spray bar. I have used arrest and slay in the past, and gly as the reset button.
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You can order online and they’ll ship too. Cheaper than anywhere else I’ve found even with shipping.
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Catscratch
5 year old buck +
What happens after you are done applying with the wick bar and there is still chemical in the tube? Do you take a cap off and pour it back into a container, or does it set there and leak until it's empty?
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
You need to clean the tube after each use. I took a 2x8 and adapted it to fit my FEL. I then used plumbing straps to tie the bar to the 2x8. The bar can rotate in the straps. I used one last strap with a screw and wing nut at the mouth to keep the bar from rotating when in use. When I'm done for the day, I remove that last strap and place a 5 gal bucket under it. I then rotate the bar so it empties in the bucket. I use a hose to fill the bar with water and empty it a few times. I also hose down the cords with fresh water after each use.
Before I first used the bar, I filled it with water and emptied it in a 5 gal bucket. I then marked the water line. After a while you learn how much acreage you can do with a full bar. If I figure I need a full bar next time I use it, I just top off the bucket to the fill line.
Thanks,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I just realized that description my be hard to follow if you have never seen one. The one I have is from Rodgers and it looks like the one in the picture at the top of this link: http://rodgersinc.com/
Mine is 10' long. I found that it has too much bend when full to connect to a bucket like the one shown in the picture. I remove my bucket and connect the 2x8 described above. The plumbing straps are positioned every couple feet. This keeps the bar straight with no bending whether it is full or empty.
Thanks,
Jack
Mine is 10' long. I found that it has too much bend when full to connect to a bucket like the one shown in the picture. I remove my bucket and connect the 2x8 described above. The plumbing straps are positioned every couple feet. This keeps the bar straight with no bending whether it is full or empty.
Thanks,
Jack
