Oxeye daisy control

Wind Gypsy

5 year old buck +
While planting some apple trees yesterday I noticed a lot of big clumps of oxeye daisy sprouting up in a foodplot. Some searching indicates it's best to hit them with herbicide when they are small. I was hoping to avoid anything but a gly burndown in July before planting fall plots so the clovers could thrive through the summer but I don't want invasive perennials to get a strong hold either. Last year i hit the plot with triclopyr to kill the Oxeye daisy, Birdsfoot trefoil, and hawksbeard that seemed to recover strong from a gly burndown and then ended up with residual damage on planted broadleaves, legumes, and brassicas. I'd like to avoid that mistake this year!

So, does anyone have a recommendation other than a 2,4-D treatment soon? I have Crossbow on hand as well but triclopyr hurt me last year.. maybe the lower % and the fact that I've got at least a couple months before fall plot planting would put me in the clear? Luckily there are parts of the plot that look to be solid rye and clover that I wont need to spray.
 
Looks like there was a study in MT that suggested 2,4-d wasn't effective in controlling them but MN DNR says 2,4-d or glyphosate during the rosette stage controls them.
 
Those are all “when nothing else will grow plants,” and they come after burn down. I’d work it now and plant something to get you to fall that you can throw and mow, or drill/mow/roll.

Crossbow is gonna cost you two seasons on anything but grasses if I remember correctly.

I think you need to heal it first, then think about flipping back to fall forages. I think you can do both. Deer will eat damn near anything in some places. A simple cover now might do it. Go get a pea/barley Mix and add some flax, jap millet, and collards to it. Mow off those weeds and drill right into it.

Without something growing there, those weeds are gonna run wild and continue to do so until the site is more hospitable to other plants.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Those are all “when nothing else will grow plants,” and they come after burn down. I’d work it now and plant something to get you to fall that you can throw and mow, or drill/mow/roll.

Crossbow is gonna cost you two seasons on anything but grasses if I remember correctly.

I think you need to heal it first, then think about flipping back to fall forages. I think you can do both. Deer will eat damn near anything in some places. A simple cover now might do it. Go get a pea/barley Mix and add some flax, jap millet, and collards to it. Mow off those weeds and drill right into it.

Without something growing there, those weeds are gonna run wild and continue to do so until the site is more hospitable to other plants.

I had considered that option as well it just takes more time which I am limited on, tractor isn't even at the land yet for the season. I do have lots of holdover seed that should work well for the cover crop until fall purpose.

There is clover and rye growing in there too, I think the brassicas that got injured by residual herbicide last year died off and opened a month long window before the broadcasted clover and rye got going. It gets a lot of browse pressure too so the desirable stuff gets hammered pretty hard and helps allow other stuff get started.
 
Knee jerk reaction - can you mow to keep them from going to seed? Maybe a rope wick applicator. Herbicide of your choice. You mentioned a few.
 
Knee jerk reaction - can you mow to keep them from going to seed? Maybe a rope wick applicator. Herbicide of your choice. You mentioned a few.
Rope wick applicator sounds like a good plan. I've been wanting to buy one of those for about ten years.....but never seem to pull the trigger. Maybe this season?
 
Knee jerk reaction - can you mow to keep them from going to seed? Maybe a rope wick applicator. Herbicide of your choice. You mentioned a few.

Interesting, never looked at the rope wick applicators before. I don't know that i will ever have a situation where the weeds stick out above the clover and rye that is growing with it but is the idea that the wick applicator wont have as much herbicide hitting soil rather than vegetation and thus have less residual or other negative impacts of higher volume herbicide use?

I could mow to prevent seed set spreading things further but would like to get things killed so they don't continue to spread through rhizomes. Part of my problem is probably rooted in mowing after seed set last year..
 
Last edited:
....but is the idea that the wick applicator wont have as much herbicide hitting soil rather than vegetation and thus have less residual or other negative impacts of higher volume herbicide use?
The rope absorbs the herbicide just as a sponge would. You wipe the weed with the rope attached to a tube holding the herbicide. Herbicide only goes where you wipe the rope. You can buy bars for on tractors or a handheld. It can be a lot of work with a hand held but I prefer it for spot spring where these is a difference in height between the weed target and the desired crop.
 
I had considered that option as well it just takes more time which I am limited on, tractor isn't even at the land yet for the season. I do have lots of holdover seed that should work well for the cover crop until fall purpose.

There is clover and rye growing in there too, I think the brassicas that got injured by residual herbicide last year died off and opened a month long window before the broadcasted clover and rye got going. It gets a lot of browse pressure too so the desirable stuff gets hammered pretty hard and helps allow other stuff get started.
I understand That. Reach out to Foggy. I believe he had hawksbeard and beat it. I can't remember what turned the corner, but I believe he got it under control.

In my area, hawksbeard and daisy come in tandem on tough soils. If you can get the soil grown shut and keep it alive, they should subside as myco-associating plants move back in.
 
I get the same problem with canada thistle. If I rip something open either with iron or chems, I touch off a small explosion in thistle. Those are a little easier because they'll burn themselves out in a few years if they weren't there before what I did to resurrect them. In the meantime, they do bring up iodine and provide some benefit to breaking up compaction, feeding beneficials, and gold finch.
 
Top