Switchgrass questions

[Rit]

Did you then start from scratch and fry it all? Or did you just treat and the field above came back to what it is now?

I did not start from scratch. I hit the field at green up the following year with gly and the switch did the rest. There are products for foxtail that are safe for switch but I didn’t get around to trying them. Quinclorac was one that I looked at.

 

[Rit]

Here is an example of Kanlow and CIR. Not sure how it will view but you can see the seed head of the Kanlow above the CIR.

 

[Rit]

Here is the edge of a section of switch that screens a food plot. You can see it is full of weeds because I have never sprayed the edge. I try to keep it mowed but didn’t get to it this year. Eventually I want browse species to cover the edge.

 

[Rit]

There are very few secrets to establishing switch. It’s an absolutely amazing tool and habitat feature to have. Two key factors are weed control and extreme patience. Weed control really needs to start the fall before you plant. One other thing that will really aid in your adventure is the ability to identify switch seedlings. This will tell you when to spray, what to spray, and when not to spray. Switch is really slow to establish and spends a good deal of energy putting down roots but you can still get 3-4’ tall switch with good weed control the first year.

Once the switch gets above the weeds there is no stopping it. It will out compete everything. If you have an area full of weeds it also doesn’t mean you have no switch. This is where you will need to be able to identify the switchgrass. In the 2nd and 3rd years the clumps of grass will send up new shoots while spreading a bit. You may have only had 3-4 tillers coming out of the ground year one but year 2 you might get 8 or 10. The 2nd year clumps will also start growing long before new seeds germinate. I had switch coming alive in late April this year.

 

[R179P]

View attachment 31891
Here is my first year switch from the first time I ever tried to establish it. As you can see there is no switch at all. Everything you see in the photo is foxtail. Given the option of killing the area the fall before is always a better option than not doing it until Spring. This is the same field as posted above just 2 years later.

That photo looks almost identical to what I was looking at in early August. If I had been plating foxtail, it would have looked like I knew what I was doing! I'll plan on a mix of CIR and kanlow late this fall. Hopefully next fall I'll have a successful switch plot to share. Thanks for the help.

 

[roymunson]

what has been all your experience with burning? I planted a bunch this spring with a no till, mowed fire lanes and planned on burning it in the spring and possibly overseeding/frost seeding teh leftover seed I have into it. LOTTA foxtail this year.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Spring burns promote grasses. I would ASSUME that you will get a flush of cool season grasses shortly after burning. I would hit them with gly to rid the competition for your switch to take off. Do it early before your soil warms up.

 

[buckdeer1]

Spring burning switch will make a real big fire so be prepared. I usually mow strips and around the edge then use a hay rake to get thatch moved over to edge.I don't even like fighting SG fires on a fire truck let alone a UTV

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Spring burning switch will make a real big fire so be prepared. I usually mow strips and around the edge then use a hay rake to get thatch moved over to edge.I don't even like fighting SG fires on a fire truck let alone a UTV

I'm referring to the other grasses present in Roymunsons case. Get the other stuff burnt up. The cool season grasses will germinate rapidly and much sooner than the switch. An early application of gly should take out the cool season grasses leaving little competition for his 2020 planted switch to thrive once the soil warms up.

 

[roymunson]

We've mowed fire lanes this fall to prep for it. But yeah, there's going to be a lot of foxtail fuel waiting.

Almost feel like I should cut up the pieces we're gonna burn and make 3 or 4 burns in a single piece of 15 acres. Just to keep it under control. We've never had it run before, but we've never burned a large piece like this.

The switch was planted in May of 2020. So there won't be much actual switchgrass to burn.

 

[R179P]

View attachment 31891
Here is my first year switch from the first time I ever tried to establish it. As you can see there is no switch at all. Everything you see in the photo is foxtail. Given the option of killing the area the fall before is always a better option than not doing it until Spring. This is the same field as posted above just 2 years later.

Help me understand the timing here since my field looks so similar to all the foxtail. I really would like to get this right so I'm not spending another few hundred on switch seed next fall. You sprayed the foxtail in the fall then seeded in the Switch in November. Sprayed with simazine and as soon as the snow melted and gly at spring green up but before the switch germinated correct? I want to make sure I understand what a "timely spraying" is.

 

[Rit]

The picture with Foxtail is from mid summer 2018. You can’t see any switch but it’s there under the foxtail. I seeded the switch in November 2017. This area was a 9 acre hayfield before I decided to put the switch in for screening cover.

After the last harvest of hay in 2017 which was mid September 2017 I sprayed and killed the field completely with gly and 2,4-d. I then waited until November and broadcast my seed into the dead thatch. (Photo attached just after spraying) In the Spring of 2018 I had atrazine and simazine sprayed on the field before anything greened up. By Early May 2018 I was still getting some weeds and no switch so I sprayed the field again with gly. A few weeks later I found some switch but it was a cold wet Spring so germination was slow and sporadic. I still ended up with a field full of foxtail. In the Spring of 2019 I applied a very heavy rate of simizine before green up with rain in the forecast. I also sprayed gly at first green up. I probably should have waited a little longer because I ended up spraying gly again as the switch was still dormant. The last time I sprayed was May of 2019 and haven’t done anything since. The important thing for you is to make sure you have switch in there somewhere. Should have seedheads at this point. You may also get more germination next year.

Have you identified any switch in your field?
Something to be aware of is established switch comes out of dormancy earlier than new seedlings germinate so you have a smaller window to spray on 2nd year switch.

 

[Rit]

May 7th 2018 pretty clean field

 

[buckdeer1]

I have planted quite a bit of switch but never had issue with other grasses or broadleafs so I have a question.I have an area that sometimes stays damp and I have smart weed growing in it and it's a CRP project.Well the FSA wants me to kill the smart weed and plant something else.I think some switch would grow there and if it didn't it will revert back to wetland plants.Is there a herbicide that will kill the smartweed that I can spray eitehr before planting switch or in the spring?

 

[Rit]

I have planted quite a bit of switch but never had issue with other grasses or broadleafs so I have a question.I have an area that sometimes stays damp and I have smart weed growing in it and it's a CRP project.Well the FSA wants me to kill the smart weed and plant something else.I think some switch would grow there and if it didn't it will revert back to wetland plants.Is there a herbicide that will kill the smartweed that I can spray eitehr before planting switch or in the spring?

Is this an actual wetland or just seasonally damp? Can you even legally spray in a documented wetland? I would imagine you need some type of aquatic herbicide for vegetation growing in or around water. I don’t have any knowledge when it comes to using them and switchgrass together. I was going to suggest Oust XP this time of year but not certain of the use in or around wetlands. I think Paul mentions using Oust XP early in the thread on the Iowa whitetail forum and later in the thread confirms it’s okay before seeding switch. I am fairly certain that’s the case but always wise to double check.

 

[buckdeer1]

I will usually. say on label if you can spray around water.I would say not even all the time seasonally damp.Like right now dry as a bone.i was really surprised that the 3 FSA guys working on this can't tell me what to plant.They were getting some advise from Pheasants forever guy on what to plant but can't figure out what to do with smart weed.

 

[titan23_87]

Rit- in Ohio here is the soil temperature (switchgrass now dormant) low enough to Fall spray Gly to kill cool season grasses on an already planted switchgrass field?

 

[BuckSutherland]

I seeded my switch grass last Friday, morning on my hunting land. I was surprised by the amount of grass that had regrown since it was nearly black around Sept 5 yet. I spread the seed a hair thicker in those spots. I do think my seed will easily get to the soil. The day after I spread we got 5" of heavy snow. I plan on a heavy dose of roundup and atrizine in the spring. Fingers crossed.

 

[meyerske]

Can you successfully manage a switchgraas field long-term without burning? Also, will deer bed in a 2 acre field of switch? Or is that just too small?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[scott44]

I have a couple 1-2 acre switch fields that I've never done anything with after the first year and the are doing good, no fire , no mowing. I can't say this is a primary bedding for them but I do see them bedding in there more does and fawns but I have seen bucks use it also.

about a 2 acre field around my orchard