Killing broadleaf weeds in clover & alfalfa

Bowsnbucks

5 year old buck +
What herbicide do you guys use to kill broadleaf weeds in clover & alfalfa plots ?? We have clethodim for grasses. I looked up Butyrac 200 and it lists alfalfa, but not clover. Any help is appreciated.
 
Butyrac 200 (aka 2,4db) is safe on clover (not chicory). It used to be labeled for clover, but for some reason they removed it from the label.
What broadleaf weeds are you dealing with?
Butyrac is okay on some broadleaf...but some others like Canada Thistle just laugh at it.
Raptor (Clearcast is a cheaper version) is safe on clover and alfalfa, and safe on chicory, but it has soil residue so it complicates follow up crop selection.


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Most of the time if it's broadleaf weeds I'll mow it and it seems to work, grass is another story and needs sprayed.
 
Most of the time if it's broadleaf weeds I'll mow it and it seems to work, grass is another story and needs sprayed.
There are a lot of broadleaf weeds that mowing doesn't fix...Yellow Rocket, Dock, and Plantain are a few that if you mow 'em, they just regrow and flower lower than can be mowed.

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I don't even know the names of some / most of the weeds in the plot. There is some thistle - we'll have to dig those out I guess - some dandelion, and a batch of others I can't identify. One of the weeds has thorns about 1/4" long and gets about 1 ft. tall on average. ( not thistle ) I'll have to look up some common weeds for our area and get back to you.

EDIT: After looking up weeds of fields & pastures, I can tell you we have horse nettles, pigweed, curly dock, and buckhorn plantain. I'm sure there are others, but we have those for sure.
 
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There is some thistle - we'll have to dig those out I guess
Canada Thistle is probably my most hated weed. I've been fighting it for several years. I've mowed it, I've spot weed-wacked it, I've hand pulled thousands of them,and I've tried digging it up. Those were all 100% failures. Pulling is NOT recommended, so I guess digging wouldn't be either unless you're sure that you will get the entire, extensive root, because it'll just sucker...been there, done that.I've tried a few different herbicides, both spot spraying and complete field spraying with gly, Raptor, and 2,4db with limited success.
Last spring, I thought I was going nuclear on the crap. I was out there as it emerged spot spraying with 50% water: 50% of 48% Roundup. The sprayed plant died but there was constantly new plants emerging.

My latest approach is this chemical...
https://www.keystonepestsolutions.c...de-282?zenid=53b8a242889f2267cd95d0f4924c6606
It really put a hurting on the thistle last summer, but I do see a little of it coming back.
 
I sprayed Butryac on my clover plot for the first time 3 weeks ago and checked this past weekend. Last fall the plot was over run by morning glory and some other weeds. The Clover is looking pretty good and It killed some of the weeds( I can see the brown and shrivled leaves) but I still have a decent population of the same weed growing. So I am guessing it killed some of the weeds that were growing and then other weeds have sprouted and are now growing. I think I may have sprayed too soon however the instructions on the label said weeds need to sprayed at 3 inches or less. I am going to weed whack the plot now and then wait until July to see if I need to spray it again. In years past, a couple mowings/weed wackings have taken care of the weed issue as the clover smothered out the weeds.
 
There are a lot of broadleaf weeds that mowing doesn't fix...Yellow Rocket, Dock, and Plantain are a few that if you mow 'em, they just regrow and flower lower than can be mowed.

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You also force more energy into the root system which requires higher dose of herbicide ...

I have sprayed weeds in clover with Glyphosate, killed the weeds and the clover rebounded.
 
You also force more energy into the root system which requires higher dose of herbicide ...

I have sprayed weeds in clover with Glyphosate, killed the weeds and the clover rebounded.

I have heard of folks spraying gly on clover to remove the weeds. I am nervous I would end up killing everything. What rate did you apply gly to the plot- ounces of gly per gallon of water?
 
I wondered the same thing ^^^^^^. What rate ?? I think Whip used to advise folks to spray gly on clover to kill weeds - saying the clover would rebound. I don't recall the rate he used.
 
We've always used Stinger on Canada thistle patches. It's death on them.

Farmer Dan recommended somewhere to try, if you're brave, 1 quart per ac of gly on clover. Said to make sure you're calibrated, have healthy clover, and have good moisture.
 
I have heard of folks spraying gly on clover to remove the weeds. I am nervous I would end up killing everything. What rate did you apply gly to the plot- ounces of gly per gallon of water?

I use 3 oz per gallon of water.
 
We've always used Stinger on Canada thistle patches. It's death on them.

Farmer Dan recommended somewhere to try, if you're brave, 1 quart per ac of gly on clover. Said to make sure you're calibrated, have healthy clover, and have good moisture.

I think I scare me!

This is somewhat complicated. If I have a fantastic stand of clover I'm not going to take glyphosate anywhere near it. Why take the risk. If I have a ratty stand of old clover where I think I can get a couple more years, I'm all for it. And, I'd never even breathe glyphosate on a new stand of clover (I'm not an alfalfa guy - no experience). A quart of gly in 15 gallons of water in a boom sprayer over an acre is about a 1% solution. If you are using a hand sprayer, 3 oz of 41% gly per gallon of water provides the same.

Clover is a perennial. The weeds I'm thinking about - both grass and broadleaf weeds are annuals. The clover should have a deep and well established root mass. The annuals will not. The poison is in the dose. A big leaf surface with a small root is susceptible. Anything with a big root system is tougher. Burdock is dead in a minute. Smartweed just laughs. Thistle? A biannual. Forget it - A 1% solution won't touch it.

The other thing is to play the difference between cool season and warm season plants. For the most part, clover isn't hardly growing in the summer and annual weeds are thriving. That makes a big difference in how the glyphosate is moved around in the plant....or not.

And don't forget about the possibilities of a rope wick applicator.
 
Just to clarify, I am not recommending the gly on clover approach, just sharing my experience.
 
Ed Spinazzola writes about using weak gly on clover that's at least 2 (?) Years old
I've done it and it worked okay BUT, I no longer agree that it's a responsible practice. I'm afraid that using a weak mix of gly may contribute to developing gly resistant weeds. I won't do it anymore.

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Gly on clover can work great if you get the timing right, but I agree with FarmerDan, I would not try it on a nice lush clover field. I've become very weed tolerant in my clover. It is now rare for me to spray herbicides on clover. I do my best to use good practices to establish a weed free field when I start by fall planting and using a WR nurse crop and timely release mowing the first spring. After that, I let weeds go and just mow right before the season. I realize this may not work for everyone if you have a specific problematic weed. At any rate, I get about 7 years out of Durana with this method until the weed population begins to exceed the clover. At that point, a properly timed application of gly can refurbish the clover field and I'll get several more years out of it before I need to rotate.

I also agree that if you are in big Ag country where gly resistance is an issue, this may not be a technique for you. I'm beginning to view glyphosate resistance as more of a cost issue than a real environmental problem.

Thanks,

Jack
 
For clover...

Dr Craig Harper recommends 4 ounces imazethapyr,12-16 ounces of clethodim /acre with a non ionic surfactant

This works well for me in east texas

bill
 
I have never applied herbicide of any kind to a clover field other than before planting or terminating it for rotation. The deer eat the weeds just as much as my clover/chicory. Plant diversity is not a bad thing imposing our will on nature to try to create an unnatural monoculture is.
 
The only thing we've sprayed on our clover plots is Clethodim for grasses. It killed over 90% of the grass - not worried about the rest. Just trying to prevent a " take-over " of the clover.

Thanks for all responses, guys. Keep 'em coming !!
 
So I want to plant brassicas in a fair clover field next week (lots of grass, clover pretty thin, some broadleaf weeds too). I was thinking of spraying with cleth to control the grasses, broadcast the brassica seed, mow really close to set clover back and to get maximum thatch. If I did this how long should i wait between spraying cleth and broadcasting/mowing. Then maybe overseed with winter rye in mid August if there are areas with exposed soil. I was thinking I might get lucky and have decent clover with the brassicas. I don't think the clover is strong enough to out compete the brassicas but I'm not sure.

Alternative #2 would be gly, but with all the rain the clover is growing really well and I'm not sure it would rebound. Advantage of using gly of course is that I would get control of broadleaf weeds.

Alternative #3 would be Butryac and cleth. Can they be applied together? How long would you wait before mowing?

Very sandy ground, but I've got my pH up to 6.6. Cool and reasonably wet weather in forecast so I think I can get good germination in the next few weeks.
 
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