oust xp or simazine on switchgrass

[bornagain62511]

Hi, do any of you know where a small quantity of oust xp (Sulfometuron Methyl 75%) can be purchased? Here's 3 pounds on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alligare-SF...670141?hash=item1c5277d83d:g:1TYAAOSwpbJVSRDf

but I only need about 12 ounces of oust XP for 6 acres of switchgrass to be established.

I read 2 ounces of oust xp per acre applied fall or early spring for new switchgrass frost-seedings, is that correct? How late in the fall can this be applied in the same year that the switchgrass is frost seeded without damaging the switchgrass?

What about using simazine 4L or simazine 90DF instead? Anyone ever apply either of those in spring at like 4 qts. or 4 pounds per acre on new switchgrass seedings with good results?

any other advice would be appreciated

thanks!

 

[Bill]

I've applied atrazine "which I think" has the same main ingredient as simazine 4L. Check the label to be sure.

It won't have any ill affect on sprouted switch. Switch is resistant to it. Spraying after the switch has emerged may not kill weeds that have emerged but it will keep more from germinating. If you're having a problem with broadleaf weeds 2,4-D can also be applied to emerged switch.

CAUTION on both. Both call for the use of a crop oil. The non ionic crop oil itself can and often does burns the plant you're trying to help. I often replace crop oil with dawn dish detergent. A few drops per gallon of water acts as a good sticker and won't burn anything. (Some people don't agree with that) but if it was good enough for Paul Knox it is good enough for me.

Also 2,4-D is hard on rubber gaskets and such. And it's residual can hang around a while. Clean your tank well when you're done using it.

Best to burn with gly and oust or Simazine the fall before frost seeding but I get it. I've done it the way your doing it based on time constraints. You won't get much switch this year anyway. Next spring you can hit the field again with gly and Simazine before the switch breaks dormancy.

 

[bornagain62511]

this hasn't been seeded yet, I'm preparing for a next year's planting. field is in roundup ready soybeans this year. hoping to spray the field with oust xp this fall and frost seed switchgrass this coming winter.

 

[Bill]

Oh perfect.
Switch after beans is the bee's knees. Oust is best but if you can't get it in small enough doses simazine will work fine. I'm sure simazine is the same as atrazine but you don't need to take a certification course to spray it.

What are you looking for in a field?

I ask because I've seeded switch at 5-6 lbs per acre for a pure stand. Also after ordering from and talking to Don Higgins I've seeded at 2lbs/acre.

I added clover and now I'm now a fan of 2 lbs/acre with 2 lbs/acre of clover.

Somehow the switch pushes through the clover and offers plenty of cover, the deer can walk through while the clover offers food. Don't worry about the simazine or gly killing the clover. It's tough.

Eventually the clover will dwindle and other weeds will fill in, but....

My favorite fields right now are switch, clover and weeds. It makes a bed and breakfast. Just mow narrow paths through it right past your stand.

In my Experience a solid stand of switch is only passed through. A loose stand is lived in.

This could be regional. So I can't say I'm an expert on it everywhere.

 

[bornagain62511]

Perfect, and in my experience, you are exactly right. What you said about a solid stand being passed through and a loose stand being live in is so true in my experience too!. Thanks for sharing your experience! I've established several plots of Switch over the years, and the first time I planted 10 pounds per acre since I'd read things like "you can't plant it too thick" and "thicker is better" and "deer like it at 10 pounds per acre". That was the worst advice ever. it was way too thick you could hardly walk through it. and the deer avoided it. they would walk around it and hardly ever go into it. we went 3 or 4 years without burning or mowing that field so that it would hopefully thin itself out, which it did. now its much thinner and the deeer use it readily. Also, here in southern Wisconsin, we often get heavy snows that will knock down switchgrass, sometimes almost completely. The thicker the switchgrass is, the worse it's standability is in heavy snows. that field we planted at 10 pounds per acre, the first year or two it would go completely flat with a heavy snow. After several years of not burning or mowing it and letting it thin itself out, now it stands up much better in heavy snows. What happens with a very thick stand is that there is no space for heavy snows to filter down in between all the stalks and leaves of the standing switchgrass, whereas with a more open stand, there is space for the snow to filter down into when the snow comes down fast and heavy, so the grass is able to stand up better.