Clover Chicory plot weed control
- Thread starter birdog
- Start date
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Unless you have a problematic broadleaf weed, I find the best thing is weed tolerance. Many broadleaf weeds are better deer food than what we plant. Nature abhors a monoculture and the more you fight that, the more cost and effort you need to apply. So, weed tolerance is best matched to the application. Farmers have a low tolerance for weeds in a crop field because everything that grows that they don't plant reduces their yield and thus profit. For food plotters, things are very different. Food plots are a tiny part of a deer's diet. They are either planted for attraction, food, or both. For feeding deer, the key is figuring out when nature is stingy (stress period) and selecting crops that will cover that period. Many "weeds" can actually contribute. I put "weeds" in quotes, because the best definition of a weed is simply a plant growing some place you don't want it to grow. What is a weed for a farmer may be a contributing plant for a deer manager. For attraction, as 50% of the plants are what you plant, weeds can actually have a positive impact.
Many of the weed problems we have, we actually create by trying to control weeds. For example, I created one using gly. I'm not in big ag country so I did not create a gly-resistance problem, but that is not the only issue. Herbicides don't kill every kind of weed. The particular weed that was a problem for me is called Marestail. It has a natural resistance to gly as many plants do (like clover). I was planting RR beans with a light mix of corn and rotating a cover crop for quite a few years. We did a pine thinning and marestail came up like crazy in the pines. It quickly got into our fields. Using gly the next year advantaged the RR beans and corn, but also advantaged the marestail. Since marestail has many propagation vectors, by the following year it was so pervasive the beans could not canopy. We are now in the process of using other herbicides to control the marestail and reducing our use of gly by planting a mix of non-RR warm season annuals instead of beans and corn.
Back to the topic at hand. Beyond tolerance for broadleaf weeds in general growing in clover/chicory, there are several options. For general broadleaf weed control, mowing is a good option. Most broadleaf weeds can be controlled by mowing. For broadleaf weeds only, 24DB (Butyrac) can work on clover but will kill the chicory. Imazamox can be used, as you say, to kill both broadleaf and grass without killing the chicory.
Personally, I would opt for mowing for broadleaf control if you need it unless you have a specific weed issue that is not controlled by mowing.
Thanks,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
What are the specific weeds? how long has the plot been growing? what do you consider a "bad" broadleaf weed problem.
Tap
5 year old buck +
That is the list of questions before anyone starts giving you advice.
I will say this...the often touted advice of controlling broadleaf weeds via mowing, is sometimes a load of crap. It depends on the weed. Plantains for example cannot be mowed low enough to kill them. Canada Thistle is another weed that I've had little success in controlling by mowing alone. Dock is another weed that just resprouts below the cut. Sometimes mowing can actually make the problem worse. When we mow, we can be reducing the competition to the weed and the weed bounces back faster than the crop and then starts to outcompete the crop.
For what we do,(feeding critters) depending on the weed, weed tolerance is a good attitude. One thing to keep in mind is that some weeds have a preferred timing that they are eaten, kinda like brassica are more used after a freeze. One weed that I have is Hairy Galensoga. I used to try to control it but I found out that deer just like it after it hits a certain maturity, and then it becomes fairly attractive to them.
#1 question...What are the specific weeds?
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
I would also question the age of the plot. Like I mentioned elsewhere i only mow my clover/chicory plots and have a fair amount of weed tolerance. Usually when my plot hits its 3rd year it is getting fairly weedy (because of the N input from the clover for the most part) That is when I transition into a TNM brassica plot in early August. The following spring it goes into RR beans. (this year i'm doing a non gmo mix. It could be a mistake but i'm going to find out).
birdog
5 year old buck +
The plot is 5 years old and will be rotated next year. I've decided to mow this year for weeds like I do every year. I plan on either rye or wheat going in this fall and letting it go until termination next year and then putting in brassicas. I was looking to try and control the weeds this year to squeeze one more year out of the plot and hopefully get a jump on the weed control next year. Thanks everyone.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
If that is the case, I certainly wouldn't worry about the chicory unless it is the largest part of the plot. If it were me, I would first mow it when the clover is in seed. I'd then wait until I had a good rain in the forecast and spray it with 1 qt/ac glyphosate. It will set back the clover and kill most of the weeds. The clover will bounce back from the root system a few weeks after the rain. I've extended the life of perennial plots this way and ended up with 2 or 3 years more life.
Thanks,
Jack
Tap
5 year old buck +
Is guy labeled for that concentration?
It's the weeds that it doesn't kill is what would concern me. We don't need to encourage gly resistant strains. Use gly to label directions.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Good point tap. That is why I put it in what I would do terms. It is not specifically labeled for that use. It is an old Ed Spin technique I've used. The only thing within 3 miles is pasture. We don't have a general gly resistance problem here. I do have a problem with marestail in my warm season fields, but no issue in clover fields. Marestail is naturally gly resistant, the problem was not created by low concentrations.
If I were in a farming area where gly-resistance was an issue, I would not use this technique. I'd still say screw the chicory and use 24Db/cleth as needed if he really wants to get another year. If it were me, I'd just accelerate and rotate.
There is a difference between using gly year after year multiple times on RR crops and using it every 5 years or so on clover. You do have a valid concern, and it is good to point it out. It is just another one of those "Each location is different rules".
Thanks,
Jack
Rit
5 year old buck +
Mowing isn’t a load of crap for a general question it’s a general statement. Maybe I just don’t find the need to over analyze every single situation to the Nth degree.
Mowing has been effective for me if there is a problematic weed I’ll spot spray. It’s a food plot not a source of income.
Mowing has been effective for me if there is a problematic weed I’ll spot spray. It’s a food plot not a source of income.
