Weeds in aftergrass, spray now or spring

bold_defender

Silage cut about 3 weeks ago and had a lot of weeds in it. Docken, nettle, thistle.

Docken are back up so is now a good time for spraying or is it too late and should I wait to spring?

White Clover

bold_defender wrote: »

Silage cut about 3 weeks ago and had a lot of weeds in it. Docken, nettle, thistle.

Docken are back up so is now a good time for spraying or is it too late and should I wait to spring?

Anytime weeds are growing strongly is a good time to hit them.

raypallas

bold_defender wrote:

Docken are back up so is now a good time for spraying or is it too late and should I wait to spring?

Hit them soon as ya can while they are soft. Less time to spread the better!

cacs

bold_defender wrote: »

Silage cut about 3 weeks ago and had a lot of weeds in it. Docken, nettle, thistle.

Docken are back up so is now a good time for spraying or is it too late and should I wait to spring?

I sprayed docks last Thursday they were all black on Sunday. Spray as soon as get a dry day

Salrub

cathal irwin wrote: »

I sprayed docks last Thursday they were all black on Sunday. Spray as soon as get a dry day

Second this, spray as soon as you can. No point in letting them spread

mr.frog

How early and late in the year can someone spray????

Muckit

mr.frog wrote: »

How early and late in the year can someone spray????

There is no closed period as far as I'm aware, but no point spraying if plant isn't growing and able to take up the chemical.

bold_defender

I'll try and get them sprayed next week.
Just need to find a sprayer. Anyone know of one in Monaghan?

bold_defender

Lad who was to put out slurry next week done it this morning, thought I'd have them sprayed first. Would it make any difference?
Meant to get soil tested as no slurry or fertilizer this year. Will test the half that got no slurry as shouldn't be much difference.
Should have had samples done. Never leave off to tomorrow what can be done today.

viztopia

Would you not be afraid of missing any seeds in the soil if you sprayed now? Or does spray kill seeds also?

geros29

Spraying in autumn is generally better imo as energy starting to be put.down to root for winter so a better kill rate is usually achieved.would say that having the leaf covered in slurry wouldn't be the greatest idea though or did I misread that one.?

geros29

Sorry just reread the post.will prob be well washed off by the time he gets it sprayed.ðŸ˜

rangler1

viztopia wrote: »

Would you not be afraid of missing any seeds in the soil if you sprayed now? Or does spray kill seeds also?

It only kills what's gowing, but it'll take 2 or 3 treatments to clear the weeds, you're never going to get them all in one spray

Muckit

rangler1 wrote: »

It only kills what's gowing, but it'll take 2 or 3 treatments to clear the weeds, you're never going to get them all in one spray

Were u on about a. new boomless sprayer demo on your farm? What did you think of it, is there a loophole in it to get out of the testing or are they a good job?

ITFarmer

That is an interesting point with respect to a boom-less sprayer (message #14) but just off the top of my head you would assume the sprayer regulations would still apply.

Weeds in after-grass (taking example in silage ground; docks, thistles, ragwort etc):
Costs:
Is it more cost effective to wait till spring to spray silage ground for weeds as if you spray in autumn will you still have to spray for weeds in your silage ground once again come spring?

And taking the example of spraying herbicide on silage ground in the autumn for weeds (docks, ragwort...) how much (€€) on average do people find it costs per acre?

That is,
Cost of herbicide:
Cost of getting a person to come into field with tractor/sprayer & apply herbicide:

Mooooo

With docks in particular it's gonna take more than one application to get rid of them as there would be a bank of seeds there. So would spray now and again in spring and it would give better results.

rangler1

Muckit wrote: »

Were u on about a. new boomless sprayer demo on your farm? What did you think of it, is there a loophole in it to get out of the testing or are they a good job?

It's a new concept in spreading fertiliser, they wanted 5 acres to demonstrate. They mixed 12 kg CAN with 25kg granlime in 100ltrs water/acre. I thought it was gimmicky and very expensive both in machinery and fertiliser, when i said that, they said that its done in New Zealand and they're usually on the ball.
You can also put in Hebicide, even grasseed with the fertiliser too.
Heres a link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhFUWjs8iQY

they had the jeep pulled machine here