The most famous thistle patch in MN

[SD51555]

In my experience, thistle and burdock both thrive in compacted, old pasture settings. Have you ever dealt with burdock? Your take on thistles makes good sense to me, and I'm not concerned with them. Burdock is an entirely different matter. Is there a no-till approach you would recommend? The amount of seed in the seed bank makes it feel hopeless.

I’ve got burdock in my yard plot. It’s a low calcium plant. I’ve got the benefit of this being a 1/10th acre plot. I spread 200 lbs (or 1-ton rate) gypsum on this plot in September specifically to try to change the geology to not favor burdock anymore. I have hit that plot with high dose calcium (lime and gypsum) at least twice before. It’s responded well, but the burdock is still around. It’s not advancing, but it’s also not gone yet.

I think this was throw and roll day.

This was a few weeks later.

Maybe a month later. By this point, the gypsum hadn’t received any rain to start it working.

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[SD51555]

I’m anxious to see this patch green up this year.

Those old Canada thistle bones are thatch now.

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[SD51555]

It’s up.

I may only have dandelions and BFTF so far.

Little bit of rain sure sets the horsetail to going. Even a few straggler thistles still coming. I did spread some spring trit out there yesterday.

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[SD51555]

This grass patch was solid Canada thistle 3 years ago. They’re completely gone now. I never did anything serious to them. Just mowed in August.

This year I’m gonna have to do something with the rest of the plot. I’ve got serious grass taking hold. This plot has been going unbroken since the fall of 2021. I’m leaning towards sethoxydim to treat this, and then follow right away with collards, safflower, and flax.

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[SD51555]

I've had some serious outbreaks of horsetail over the years in this plot. I learned, by pure accident, that lime can knock out horsetail. To what pH level? I don't know. Where I get oppressive patches of horsetail, I've thrown on high rates of calcium via either gypsum or lime depending on where the pH is at. I almost forgot about the horsetail because I haven't seen it in five years.

 

[marlin]

I've had some serious outbreaks of horsetail over the years in this plot. I learned, by pure accident, that lime can knock out horsetail. To what pH level? I don't know. Where I get oppressive patches of horsetail, I've thrown on high rates of calcium via either gypsum or lime depending on where the pH is at. I almost forgot about the horsetail because I haven't seen it in five years.

Do you know what the pH level of the field is today without the horsetail?

 

[SD51555]

Do you know what the pH level of the field is today without the horsetail?

Yeah, that's the north plot sample I just got back.

 

[marlin]

Yeah, that's the north plot sample I just got back.

View attachment 77650

Thanks.

 

[matinc]

SD I see your north field is 2.7 OM. How does that compare to your previous sample and how much duff are you adding every year. Your 2 other fields have substantially improved OM.

 

[SD51555]

SD I see your north field is 2.7 OM. How does that compare to your previous sample and how much duff are you adding every year. Your 2 other fields have substantially improved OM.

The north plot first tested at 3.4%.

It tested two years later at 4.9%.

I tested it a third time in ‘19 and it came back 4.0.


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[SD51555]

This was the subsoil sample I did in 2019. I wanted to know what I was spreading on top of my plot. It's come quite a ways since it was spread. Unfortunately, it's not had a single year of adequate rain in 5 years. I'm very forgiving on this kind of dirt. I'm willing to take nearly any growth the first few years because magazine forages do not do well in heavy dead clay. It's been a lot of calcium (lime) and gypsum to try to aerate this clay. It started at 0.6% OM and made it to 2.7% in all those years. If I could get a summer of rain, I bet it'd shoot ahead a full point or more in one year.