rushes

deanvictory

Hi guys just wondering if it's too early to spray rushes it's just this good dry spell might be too good to let go without doing something? Also what about ragworth?

6480

deanvictory wrote: »

Hi guys just wondering if it's too early to spray rushes it's just this good dry spell might be too good to let go without doing something? Also what about ragworth?

i heard of people spraying ragworth at this time of year but as for the rushes i would like to cut them and spray later when groth is good , i find that if u roll the rushes before spraying it kills them better as the rush gets the spray better

KatyMac

Do they not have to be growing?? Temperatures are awful low at minute. Growth isn't anything to get excited about until the temperatures both night and day are about 6 degrees C - they are only about 3-5 around here. I'm planning to hit some rushes with topper in next few days if the field dries another bit.

Timmaay

6480 wrote: »

i heard of people spraying ragworth at this time of year but as for the rushes i would like to cut them and spray later when groth is good , i find that if u roll the rushes before spraying it kills them better as the rush gets the spray better

Rolling them is the last thing that I'll be able to do with the ones here, way too wet, having beached a tractor pulling a roller before, its not something I plan on repeating ha, utter pain to get them out!
Sorting out the drainage is the 1st step, which I'm hoping to do this summer, they will be back time and time again otherwise, weedkiller is only avoiding the actual problem.

deanvictory

Timmaay wrote: »

Rolling them is the last thing that I'll be able to do with the ones here, way too wet, having beached a tractor pulling a roller before, its not something I plan on repeating ha, utter pain to get them out!
Sorting out the drainage is the 1st step, which I'm hoping to do this summer, they will be back time and time again otherwise, weedkiller is only avoiding the actual problem.

I know you say avoiding the real problem but my fields were reseeded couple years ago probably didn't get enough lime but used to cut silage off them and no rushes just the last few years there gone out of control

6480

deanvictory wrote: »

I know you say avoiding the real problem but my fields were reseeded couple years ago probably didn't get enough lime but used to cut silage off them and no rushes just the last few years there gone out of control

i use mushroom compost when reseeding , never rushes again after it is used ,

Conmaicne Mara

KatyMac wrote: »

Do they not have to be growing?? Temperatures are awful low at minute. Growth isn't anything to get excited about until the temperatures both night and day are about 6 degrees C - they are only about 3-5 around here. I'm planning to hit some rushes with topper in next few days if the field dries another bit.

They'll still die, just a lot slower. Given the proximity to the start of the growing season (fingers crossed) it's probably not worth spraying them now. Cut and spray/wipe later when they've grown again.

KatyMac

have topper on tractor. Fingers crossed the field won't get a grip on me tomorrow!

How ya fixed?

deanvictory - don't bother spraying yet - you're just wasting your money.

Firstly - sore out the drainage i.e. get the water flowing - how to do this depends on what the soil type is & where the water is coming from (e.g. is there an underground spring).

Once you have the drainage sorted, then you can tackle the rushes. To get the best result from spray you can do one of two things - top (i.e. cut the rushes), 3-6 weeks before spraying - or top the rushes 3-6 weeks after spraying.
Why - because in the first instance (topping before spraying), the soft rush will absorb the spray quicker as it is going through a high-growth rate period. In the second instance (topping after spraying), you are inflicting maximum damage on the plant.

When to spray - best advice is to spray in June and/or Sept....

Slán & go néirí an bóthar leat

reilig

6480 wrote: »

i use mushroom compost when reseeding , never rushes again after it is used ,

+1

Bedded sheds a few years ago with mushroom compost and the land that it was spread on has not grown any rushes since!

OP, you can spray now, but i find that I get a better kill when rushes are growing. I'm going to lick rushes in about 1 month!

bbam

Passed a field there before nine and a fella was out cutting rushes.
Chance that the frost will kill some off but he was rutting the wet area quite badly . I'd rather wait than damage fields.

We were preping the licker at the weekend, few weeks and it'll be busy.

Spray is too expensive to put on now as there is little to no growth and you'll not be getting the best of the chemical.

hugo29

reilig wrote: »

+1

Bedded sheds a few years ago with mushroom compost and the land that it was spread on has not grown any rushes since!

OP, you can spray now, but i find that I get a better kill when rushes are growing. I'm going to lick rushes in about 1 month!

where would a man get a hold of Mushroom compost, what is its P AND K value, is it spread with muck spreader then

going getting rushes mulched next week and will spray me self (with me shiny new sprayer, which i have not a clue how to work) in a month or so

bbam

What's the science bit behind the mushroom compost working?

I've been told that a high application of lime will stunt their growth as it eliminates the conditions in soil for their growth.

Conmaicne Mara

bbam wrote: »

Passed a field there before nine and a fella was out cutting rushes.
Chance that the frost will kill some off but he was rutting the wet area quite badly . I'd rather wait than damage fields.

A man has a small field by the road near me. His father wouldn't allow a rush onto the land but he's dead with years. The place became like a jungle. So one day last year I see a quad in spraying and think Brian would be happy about that for sure. A while later a big 4wd tractor is in cutting the rushes and I was :eek: Because that field wasn't going to take that weight, and sure enough there are deep ruts in it yet. There's no sense to doing that.

He'll need the quad back in again soon too.

TippNorth

I mowed rushes last weekend in a field we plan to make silage in this year, hopefully the first week of June. We didn't make silage here last summer as we had a surplus from the previous year. Instead we grazed this field and over the year it became heavily infested in a few areas due to the bad weather and some poaching throughout the year. Thankfully due to the recent dry weather the field is trafficable so I cut these areas of rushes which should hopefully stunt their growth, assisted by the hard frost at night recently. It should alos reduce the burden of rushes from the silage crop and allow light into the field to allow grasses to regain some dominance and compete in the sward.

I'm going to spread 10-10-20 on this field next weekend at 2.5 bags/acre and follow on with CAN the last week in March at 2.5 bags/acre. I gave some consideration to spraying with MCPA in March ( I don't have a weed licker) on the regrowth of the rushes but I'm in dread it might stunt the grass growth plus the dead/rotting rushes will be left in the sward and may make the silage unpalatible, so I plan to just leave what ever rushes regrow be included in the silage and spray them after the silage is cut.

hugo29

TippNorth wrote: »

I mowed rushes last weekend in a field we plan to make silage in this year, hopefully the first week of June. We didn't make silage here last summer as we had a surplus from the previous year. Instead we grazed this field and over the year it became heavily infested in a few areas due to the bad weather and some poaching throughout the year. Thankfully due to the recent dry weather the field is trafficable so I cut these areas of rushes which should hopefully stunt their growth, assisted by the hard frost at night recently. It should alos reduce the burden of rushes from the silage crop and allow light into the field to allow grasses to regain some dominance and compete in the sward.

I'm going to spread 10-10-20 on this field next weekend at 2.5 bags/acre and follow on with CAN the last week in March at 2.5 bags/acre. I gave some consideration to spraying with MCPA in March ( I don't have a weed licker) on the regrowth of the rushes but I'm in dread it might stunt the grass growth plus the dead/rotting rushes will be left in the sward and may make the silage unpalatible, so I plan to just leave what ever rushes regrow be included in the silage and spray them after the silage is cut.

i plan to do something similar only I am going to mulch the rushes, apply slurry and fertilizer, spray the regrowth and cut silage in july

Henwin

Hi, we hav rented 30 acres of poor wet land for this year. Most of it is covered in rushes. we wer hoping to have this land for grazing our 17 friesan yearlings from next week on.
Whats d best way to get rid of the rushes in the short term, i suppose draining is best but we r not sure if we will even keep this ground next year as parts of it r still wet even after all d dry weather.
when is the best time to spray? what spray? wud lime help?
wat about topping etc.
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks

towzer2010

Henwin wrote: »

Hi, we hav rented 30 acres of poor wet land for this year. Most of it is covered in rushes. we wer hoping to have this land for grazing our 17 friesan yearlings from next week on.
Whats d best way to get rid of the rushes in the short term, i suppose draining is best but we r not sure if we will even keep this ground next year as parts of it r still wet even after all d dry weather.
when is the best time to spray? what spray? wud lime help?
wat about topping etc.
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks

You won't really be able to get rid of the rushes properly and use it for grazing in just a year I think.

Just keep it topped if you only have it for a year.

Farmer Pudsey

Keep them topped and spread adequate P&K. Maybe 2 bags 10-10-20 this will help grass to control same. You could use slurry however it sounds like you have grass at present.

Henwin

hiya, no there is very little grass there at present, 1 field is ok but the rest r poor. spread fertiliser in d poor ones yesterday. would rolling before spraying help or shud we just top the lot. if we top is it advisable to gather all the rushes up i wonder. wen is the best time to sray. if we do spray how soon can it be grazed. we shudprobably keep it for a few more years if we put a lot of work into it.