Dandelion

lstmd

Hi all, I have a bad dandelion problem in some fields I have spread slurry on over the past few years.

They are flowering at the moment. Is it too late to spray them or what spray would people recommend?

thanks

Iodine1

What harm are they doing? They're edible and once the grass starts growing, it will out compete them.

Jb1989

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122016389#Comment_122016389

They can take over when they want to and choke the grass. Happened my field this 2 years and it pollinated the neighbours field. I'll put on fore front t as there is a few docks in field. And if still there after I'll go with mcpa.

alps

Urea.

Rented ground last year which had a high dandelion count. Sprayed Urea all year together with a compliment of Sulphur, Trace elements and Humates and no dandelions this year.

Birdnuts

Dandelions are highly palatable for stock and their long tap root brings up nutrients that grass can't tap. In fact they are a key element of some of the best performing herbal leys. Great plant for Bees and other pollinators too.

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122016389#Comment_122016389

Agreed, Low fertility is probably the reason they're there, you never see them in good fertility

yosemitesam1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122017084#Comment_122017084

And in poor springs for grass growth. Good grass will outcompete tg

lstmd

I'm afraid grass yield will be affected by them. I thought they only grew in fertile land. I think once in silage ground I'm spreading them every time I spread slurry.
Thanks

Iodine1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122017217#Comment_122017217

Dandelion seeds are windborne ie typically known as "parachutes". They are well dispersed before grass is cut and very little left to be carried in slurry. Once the grass grows it will crowd them out.

memorystick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058346760/dandelion

My neighbour was fixated with Dandelions. He sprayed every year. Taking his time, driving straight and stepping the headlands every time. Always proud of his work.

He died a few years ago and the Dandelions turned up in force giving him a nice send off. They didn’t bare a grudge as them bowed their golden heads as his remains slowly wound down the avenue that April morning.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122017217#Comment_122017217

Do you have enough grazing so you don't overgraze? You'll get far more weed seeds germinating and thriving in overgrazed land.

Say my name

Dandelions are a symptom of compaction.

We've had the greatest time of rainfall going. Coupled if you say spreading slurry.

Dandelions are as edible as grass and moreso you could eat them yourself in a salad.

Don't bother spraying would be my advice. The spraying will only further destroy any soil biota and increase the compaction more.

If you want to tackle them then it's calcium lime is needed to open the ground or what @alps is doing helping along the soil biota.

Lime Tree Farm

If they weren't so plentiful they would be treasured.

"Dandelions growing on headlands, showing their unloved hearts to everyone” Kavanagh

morphy87

why would dandelions be an issue in grass? I have some and no problems

patsy_mccabe

Crazy spraying them. I'd test Soil PH first and lime accordingly. NPK after.

endainoz

Hugely beneficial, waste of time and money to spray them. Grass will always out compete them eventually. Always love to see them coming up myself, great sign of the spring.

Silverdream

Cows seem to eat them ok. They are a fecker for hay-feaver sufferers when they go to flower.

Danzy

Dandelions are growing before the grass, they are more cold tolerant. The problem has been that it wasn't a great Grass month gone by, spraying dandelions won't change that bar the time and expense of it for nothing achieved.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122017084#Comment_122017084

Not Correct, neither or or low fertility is an issue. I have an abundance of them in one paddocks. Ph would be near 7, it might be slightly shy of P buts it's high in K. Poaching not any issue either.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122017217#Comment_122017217

Not really they tend not to be asichnif an issue in other paddocks. Yeas silage groups the issue in my case as well. However the seed should not be coming in with silage as they flower in April.

Kincora2017

It’s deeply depressing to hear farmers talking of spraying fields to get rid of dandelions. So much for the custodians of the land 😞

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122036802#Comment_122036802

Was it depressing to see most of the farmers above advised against spraying them? Or did just come here for the outrage?

I wonder what the decline in dandelions would be if the grassland farmers were removed as seems to be popular opinion of those who come her to utter the words "custodians of the land", it's ironic I've only every herd that phrase from visitors coming here to try and get a rise out of farmers.

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122036986#Comment_122036986

We don't own it really, the folios with our names on it mean nothing apparently.

Kincora2017

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122036986#Comment_122036986

I’m not outraged. Ultimately it’s peoples land and they’re not breaking any law. I do find it depressing that spraying to get rid of dandelions should even be up for discussion. It’s good to see most people go against it.

I was at the botanical gardens in Kilmacurragh not so long ago where the guide explained about the wildflower meadow there that borders onto adjoining farmland, separated by a ditch. The meadow is natural, not man-made, but has fortuitously been protected from modern agricultural methods as it is within the boundaries of the house. The guide explained the level of biodiversity in the meadow compared to the adjoining fields. I can’t remember the figures but the difference was eye wateringly stark. It’s depressing to hear of the damage we continue to do to our own land.

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122038357#Comment_122038357

How many tonnes/ha is he growing in the wild flower meadow?

Kincora2017

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122038391#Comment_122038391

haha! Of Dandelions?!? Enough to keep him going till next year anyway

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122038406#Comment_122038406

If you're worried about the enviironment you shouldn't be driving a car or riding in buses/trains

roosterman71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122038462#Comment_122038462

Lets stick to the dandelions. Enough other threads turn into a slanging match about the environment

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122038357#Comment_122038357

I’m not outraged

Strange….

Because this remark makes it seem otherwise:

So much for the custodians of the land

If you'd actually read the majority of posts you'd find spraying was far from the consensus.

In fact if you look at post #5 the most liked post within the thread, which is a good indication of the sentiment of the regular posters here including those who didn't leave a response you may be a little less depressed.

But having said that, the issue of dandelions is worthy of discussion, it is neither natural nor productive for a field to be growing nothing but dandelions either and at the end of the day as others suggested here it may be worth investigating/fixing underlying issues with the land that may be allowing them to out compete all other grassland species without the need to completely eradicate them. Other forms of farming such as veg, tillage or forestry definitly wouldn't have a discussion on whether or not to allow the dandelions grow. As for your wild-flower meadow in the botanical gardens, I have my doubts as to whether it exists entirely naturally either, as some maintenance would be required by manual cutting or some form of intermittent grazing (natural or otherwise).

Base price

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122037672#Comment_122037672

Please explain cause I would like to know.

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039092#Comment_122039092

I was being sarcastic

amacca

At the risk of really stirring the pot....what about an infestation of bastard docks!

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122038702#Comment_122038702

If you're not doing your own bit for the enviroment, you needn't bother your backside criticising others for not.

Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast the First Stone"

davidk1394

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039636#Comment_122039636

Has anyone tried the dock beetles ? I sprayed paddocks with Eagle to kill them but it hasn't achieved much.

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039636#Comment_122039636

Docks are a sign of compaction, and are palatable and generally good for animals to eat, but they crowd out grass of course so can be a massive problem in some farms.

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039636#Comment_122039636

A sure sign of excessive N in soil

kk.man

I'd never worry about Dandelions. My Aunt rip used to say every year springs a different flower, its nature.

My daughter this evening posed this very question about the Dandelions. I remember asking the same at her age. It's amazing how generations repeat stuff.

epfff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039636#Comment_122039636

Definitely don't spray them.

The leaves are a very environmentally friendly way of wiping your arse.

roosterman71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039656#Comment_122039656

Wha?

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039956#Comment_122039956

Both Dandelions and Docks are tap rooted, so references to both being signs of compaction doesn't make any sense to me.

Broad leaved plants will take advantage of thinning of grass in wet seasons as they're happier in wetter ground, that's basically it.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039677#Comment_122039677

Id be interested in hearing an honest opinion from anyone thats tried them out properly myself!

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122040826#Comment_122040826

Ah just something from the bible.

Regarding the environment, you can be sure that 99.999% of people aren't bothered doing anything to save it so most critics of farming shouldn't be listened to

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122041592#Comment_122041592

It might have looked a bit like you were accusing @roosterman71 of being completely against protecting the environment. 😂

No doubt there will be the usually social media #NoMowMay where people feel good about protecting the bees by not mowing their lawns. In reality an occasionally mowed lawn in May encourages the Dandelions to keep flowering long after they have gone to seed in the meadows.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039677#Comment_122039677

I haven't tried dock beetles, but I did try cinnabar moths with the ragwort, basically I found some in one field and collected some spreading them around the farm. They had a really big impact for a couple of years then disappeared, I suspect once they made my crop of ragwort small enough they simply moved on to somewhere they were more plentiful, it's not in their interest to completely annihilate them. I see some reappear occasionally but I'm trying to keep the ragwort pulled too so I guess the land is not as appealing to them now.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122041705#Comment_122041705

I read somewhere that pulling ragwort was counterproductive because it always leaves roots behind which regrow. A ragwort will not die until it has completed it's reproductive cycle so every time you pull one you guarantee that it will grow back.

So in the case of ragwort you either learn to live with it or use spot on weedkiller. Since ragwort has actual negative outcomes on a farm (unlike dandelions which are positive) I advocate selective weedkiller. However we need some ragwort otherwise we will lose cinibar moths and 6 spotted burnet moths.

davidk1394

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122041705#Comment_122041705

I didn't know the name of the moth. Have them here the last few years. They killed off a few patches of ragwort.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122041735#Comment_122041735

spraying > pulling > topping.

I have a few fields with a challenge. I went hard pulling them last year in two fields and hope to have less this year. Part of a 3 year plan to eliminate them by pulling. Can’t spray as in Organics

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122041735#Comment_122041735

Spot spraying of ragwort isn't as effective when they go past the rosette stage which can be hard to see before it's too late. Pulling is absolutely effective when done correctly, roots need to come up. There are also tools out there to make it easier.

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122041681#Comment_122041681

Well I wasn't accusing him, it was explaining why I defended farmers against Kincoras allegations , there is no one taking any action against climate change, I still don't see children cycling to school etc etc.

I saw my nephews son going to his mother, father, and finally his grandfather looking for a lift to training about 3mls, of level road, away….snowflakes or what

Lime Tree Farm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122041930#Comment_122041930

Yes, but it's specialist training nowadays, you won't get that on a bike or walking. Think Limerick Hurlers for his future.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122041735#Comment_122041735

Well from experience what you read is total bullshit

We had an infestation here, pulling was the method to bring it under control, we halved the problem the first year alone...within about 2 years it was diwn to manageable levels

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122041930#Comment_122041930

Oh, I know... It just took a reread is all