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ragworth and thistles

2

Comments

  • #32
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    thanks.... hopefully it will all work out well in the end... this guy has no shortage of money and could well have sorted this along tome ago:mad:


  • #33
    Craggy Island
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 67 ✭✭Craggy Island


    F.D wrote: »
    Our cattle will be off for 3 weeks still at least so i should be ok, we have no stalks its just at ground level where its starting to grow so hopefully the grass will have outgrown it also
    is the d 50 expensive ? does it stunt the grass much

    F.D I was quoted €44.50 for 10 Litres of 2 4D/ D50 yesterday in our co-op
    Magenta direct have it fir €51 for ten Litres. Hold on.... My co-op is cheaper than somewhere else in Ireland..:eek: This can't be right... No - it is:). I was told it had come down recently.

    I think 2 litres/acre is the rate. Pulled some ragwort last year. Kinda backbreaking work so going to get at it in time this year. My ragwort is mostly just flush with the ground at the moment. Got to spray it in time before the second grazing with the cows .
    Craggy


  • #34
    F.D
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 718 ✭✭✭F.D


    still have this problem its hard to know if i will ever get the better of it but just noticed out herding the cattle they seem to be eating the ragworth leaves its in the middle of good crops of grass, has anyone ever seen them do this? its not as if there hungry i wonder are they taking it up in mouthfulls with the grass i'm getting concerned about it now because i seen it in a few different patches, maybe there spitting it out? these are plants that have not got the flower on it yet by the way so its even hard for me to see it until theve grazed around it


  • #35
    ootbitb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 631 ✭✭✭ootbitb


    had a severe ragwort problem years ago. sprayed them during a mild dry spell in February with stuff called Mortox50. ...total success.


  • #36
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    F.D wrote: »
    still have this problem its hard to know if i will ever get the better of it but just noticed out herding the cattle they seem to be eating the ragworth leaves its in the middle of good crops of grass, has anyone ever seen them do this? its not as if there hungry i wonder are they taking it up in mouthfulls with the grass i'm getting concerned about it now because i seen it in a few different patches, maybe there spitting it out? these are plants that have not got the flower on it yet by the way so its even hard for me to see it until theve grazed around it
    pull it... i spend a day a week at this time of year pulling ragworth... i hope to have a ragworth free zone soon, just make sure the roots come up also and wear gloves


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  • #37
    Pharaoh1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 354 ✭✭Pharaoh1


    Luckily I have no problem with ragwort or thistles.

    I generally top each grazing paddock after grazing and top it fairly tight after tight grazing.
    Most of the paddocks would be topped 6/7 times each year. I'm probably overdoing it but its not a big area and my drystock will not really clean it out to my liking.
    The only ragwort/thistles I have to pull/cut are under the electric fence where the topper doesn't go such as close to posts.
    Fertiliser/slurry applied as per soil tests and I'm wondering if this helps.

    I am beginning to see more broadleaved weeds so I'll need to start a spray regime for these next year.
    Is the continuous topping/tight grazing/soil fertility the reason I have no problems or am I just lucky?


  • #38
    Pharaoh1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 354 ✭✭Pharaoh1


    Luckily I have no problem with ragwort or thistles.

    I generally top each grazing paddock after grazing and top it fairly tight after tight grazing.
    Most of the paddocks would be topped 6/7 times each year. I'm probably overdoing it but its not a big area and my drystock will not really clean it out to my liking.
    The only ragwort/thistles I have to pull/cut are under the electric fence where the topper doesn't go such as close to posts.
    Fertiliser/slurry applied as per soil tests and I'm wondering if this helps.

    I am beginning to see more broadleaved weeds so I'll need to start a spray regime for these next year.
    Is the continuous topping/tight grazing/soil fertility the reason I have no problems or am I just lucky.


  • #39
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    the only ones i have are under the fences also and anywhere that hasnt been topped


  • #40
    Graces7
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    Thanks for this thread. I cam on to ask re this as we are surrounded by grazing fields and are concerned re what is being sprayed and may be drfiting onto our garden. Which we were planning to ne organic .

    He has topped the fields and now is going to spray the hedges for brambles and the weeds also in the fields.

    Almost no ragwort; I pulled what there was last week. Thistles and nettles and docks in abundance.

    We are new to cattle country and also have someone in the family with serious allergies to chemicals of all kinds.

    We have asked him not to spray the hedgesd to our garden and that we will find someone to clean them and clear them instead.

    He means blanket spraying.


  • #41
    ootbitb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 631 ✭✭✭ootbitb


    there is a no slurry rule close to dwellings surely there must be a similar rule regarding toxic sprays?


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  • #42
    F.D
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 718 ✭✭✭F.D


    whelan1 wrote: »
    pull it... i spend a day a week at this time of year pulling ragworth... i hope to have a ragworth free zone soon, just make sure the roots come up also and wear gloves

    We have been pulling it, it still keeps coming, this is regrowth that would have been missed or at the floral stage and missed until the next rotation
    I thought it was supposed to be sour and the cattle did not eat it, i wouldn't even mind if we were grazing them tight but we're not.
    its a strange one, will have to go checking the paddocks ahead of them now, was easier letting them graze then pull it as i was going around topping the grass off afterwards,


  • #43
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    i find where i pulled them last year they didnt come back, when i am bringing in the cows i would also pull a few, i throw them in a skip i have in the yard


  • #44
    JohnBoy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,342 ✭✭✭JohnBoy


    Does ragwort have a first cousin?

    I was pulling it over the last few nights. ditches and paddock fences had a fair bit, filled a 7x4 car trailer in 15 acres.


    I also found some stuff in the wet end of the field, looked like ragwort, but different.

    the stem was fully purple, there were fewer leaves, the leaves werent as furled as ragwort, looked more like an oak tree leaf and the flowers had fewer petals.

    Anyone know what this might be? I took a pic but havent gotten it off my phone yet.


    Also what's the story with "encouraging" a neighbour to sort out a problem? there's a field of horses next door that's getting more and more covered in them and I'm afraid any pulling we do is only going to be a losing battle with that field uphill and down wind of us :(


  • #45
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    i know of some one who reported his neighbour to the guards under the noxious weeds act for having ragworth


  • #46
    pakalasa
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    I had more or less got rid of it too by pulling it, but this year there is some just inside a boundry ditch. On the other side is land that is rented out. The farmer that has it keeps his own place weed free, but doesnt give a damn about the ground he's renting. It's a sea of thistles and ragwort.:mad:


  • #47
    Graces7
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    ootbitb wrote: »
    there is a no slurry rule close to dwellings surely there must be a similar rule regarding toxic sprays?


    That is interesting. Anyone have a reference please; and of course it makes sense. Come to think of it they did not put slurry on the field that is by us.

    Please? What do you do re fields where there are dwellings?


  • #48
    20silkcut
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,736 ✭✭✭20silkcut


    I was pulling ragworth earlier this week first time we had to do this in years. Didn't use any gloves either. Not feeling any effects yet.


  • #49
    CardBordWindow
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,205 ✭✭✭CardBordWindow


    20silkcut wrote: »
    I was pulling ragworth earlier this week first time we had to do this in years. Didn't use any gloves either. Not feeling any effects yet.
    I've often pulled it by hand without a glove, and the only ill effect is the horrible smell left on your hands!


  • #50
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    20silkcut wrote: »
    I was pulling ragworth earlier this week first time we had to do this in years. Didn't use any gloves either. Not feeling any effects yet.
    slow effects over the years i think


  • #51
    Tora Bora
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,258 ✭✭✭Tora Bora


    pakalasa wrote: »
    I had more or less got rid of it too by pulling it, but this year there is some just inside a boundry ditch. On the other side is land that is rented out. The farmer that has it keeps his own place weed free, but doesnt give a damn about the ground he's renting. It's a sea of thistles and ragwort.:mad:

    I sympathise with you. Grand bit of land rented out next door to me. It's a sea of ragwort.
    I have been pulling the stuff on my side for four years now. Not bad at this stage, but simply no hope of getting rid, if the land next door is let run riot with the stuff:(


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  • #52
    F.D
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 718 ✭✭✭F.D


    isnt the saying "one years weeds 7 years seed "
    Must be through because there seems to be no end to it, land behind us is riddled with nothing else only Dirt with a few wild sucklers hidden amongest it


  • #53
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    my 3 year old knows what ragworth looks like and when ever we are in the car is always telling me theres ragworth:D


  • #54
    pakalasa
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    Whelan1,
    I can see you starting a national campaign to rid the countryside of Ragwort. :D


  • #55
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    pakalasa wrote: »
    Whelan1,
    I can see you starting a national campaign to rid the countryside of Ragwort. :D
    yup :D i bloody hate them ....


  • #56
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,934 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    whelan1 wrote: »
    slow effects over the years i think

    That would explain the craic with the father in law allright:D;)


  • #57
    ootbitb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 631 ✭✭✭ootbitb


    Graces7 wrote: »
    That is interesting. Anyone have a reference please; and of course it makes sense. Come to think of it they did not put slurry on the field that is by us.

    Please? What do you do re fields where there are dwellings?

    you could try epa.ie

    these days I tend to avoid blanket sprays for the sake of my health . regular topping seems to control everything except docks.


  • #58
    bbam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,410 ✭✭✭bbam


    ootbitb wrote: »
    you could try epa.ie

    these days I tend to avoid blanket sprays for the sake of my health . regular topping seems to control everything except docks.

    I've been told that topping doesn't kill off ragworth but some comments here suggests they can be..
    We're currently in a regime against rushes but following that ragworth will be next...

    What sort of topping frequency would start to kill them off...

    We changed from spraying to weed licking as it seems to be better for grass cover, however ragworth don't seem too affected by licking with roundup, maybe a stronger solution would work??


  • #59
    JohnBoy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,342 ✭✭✭JohnBoy


    JohnBoy wrote: »
    Does ragwort have a first cousin?

    I was pulling it over the last few nights. ditches and paddock fences had a fair bit, filled a 7x4 car trailer in 15 acres.


    I also found some stuff in the wet end of the field, looked like ragwort, but different.

    the stem was fully purple, there were fewer leaves, the leaves werent as furled as ragwort, looked more like an oak tree leaf and the flowers had fewer petals.

    Anyone know what this might be? I took a pic but havent gotten it off my phone yet.

    Still havent uploaded my own pic, but this is my friend:

    marsh%20ragwort.jpg

    Marsh Ragwort. seemingly just as poisonous as regular ragwort.

    Poor SWS boys are gonna have a long day in the forest pulling that stuff. it's gone mad with it.


  • #60
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    is there a yearly one and a 2 yearly one , if that makes sense


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  • #61
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    i thought ragworth where bad just spent a while pulling nettles in where we have the hens , i stupidly had a t shirt on instead of a jumper , have nettle stings on my arms and legs:mad:


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