Thistle Killers?

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DitchBank

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Are there any home made, animal friendly thistle killers, that would if possible kill to the root? I have all kinds of thistles around me and have controlled the ones in my pastures with a shovel but knowone around me has done the same, so if they get to big and seed I will have cleaned out mine for nothing. Don't care if it kills the grass around the thistle to.
 
You have been controlling the thistle with the shovel. 8) Maybe just keep it up.
 
DitchBank":11ldvsng said:
Are there any home made, animal friendly thistle killers, that would if possible kill to the root? I have all kinds of thistles around me and have controlled the ones in my pastures with a shovel but knowone around me has done the same, so if they get to big and seed I will have cleaned out mine for nothing. Don't care if it kills the grass around the thistle to.

Mix you up a copper sulfate solution and try it. 2-3% solution.
 
I have had a battle with thistle also. The best thing I found is a herbiside called Kambamaster. It does a great job killing my thistle. The only problem is that I have clover in my pasture that I did not want to kill, so I must apply the Kambamaster with a hand sprayer.
 
If its going to be an ongoing problem due to the neighbors you might want to build a wick to put on a tractor or a four wheeler or even on the back of your truck. The wick can be juiced with a hot solution of roundup or some other herbicide that will work on the root. The root is the key. Don't go mixing fast acting herbicides with something like roundup. Just let it stay undisturbed until it is graveyard dead.

edit: Didn't Mr. Billy post a design for a homemade wick about 2 years ago?
 
spot spraying with remedy + diesel...it works. Larger ones, use basal method, spray around the trunk.
 
I've been battling thistle for a few years, I used to use a great product call Curtail, it worked very well and killed both Bull Thistle and the harder to get Canadian thistle which spreads by both seed and root. But I also am in an on going battle with Blackberries and Curtail does not get them... same company makes a spray call Crossbow, a little more expensive but gets everything and kills the root (just bought a 2.5 gallon bottle of concentrate yesterday for $209). I have a 25 gallon sprayer on my 4 wheeler, pump connects to the battery and we're off.

Alan
 
spot spray gramoxone (1 qt/20 gallons of water + 1 qt of crop oil) = graveyard dead in 24 hours
 
I have controled my thistle and blackberries with grazon and reedy. Most of it has been done from the 4 wheeler to save the clover. If you have a small amount you can use torodon. This will kill the seed if you spray it on the bloom.
In the 25 gal sprayer one pint of grazon 1/2 pint remedy and1/4to1/2 pt surfactant. I have found this to work well for me.
 
To get just a few of them, instead of a shovel. I found a bean hook. it slices them off at the ground and so far none of them have came back up. I can use it with out getting off the 4 wheeler.

A couple of weeks ago though, I yanked on a big tough one and it uprooted and came straight back in my face.
I've had more fun..........
 
I've got a sprayer that mounts on the back of our JD Gator that we can hook our hand wand sprayer in. We use a hot mixture of roundup with a little brush killer mixed in with it. Also... a few drops of dishwashing detergent helps it cling to the leaves longer. It'll even kill coffee beans stone dead.
 
I suspect that you and I have different types of thistle or you are going to be one upset Ditchbank next spring. We dug up the ones in our yard a couple years ago. The following spring we had thistles growing down in holes. :mad:
 
Oh heck, why do ya hate it so bad? When it's young and tender, just blooming, it makes nice hay. When it gets to this stage, sending out seed, it's still green, and I shredded near 25 acres of that stuff. Kick the cows out on it, and it's like haylage! That's best homemade and animal friendly method we have.
 
danl":l5n6nmt8 said:
Are you sure we are talking about the same thing ??????????

Yup. It works especially well with Canadian thistle as the bull thistle tends to get really woody by this time. May as well shred it and make feed than spray it and waste pasture.
 
I'm a little behind on my chemical combinations, eg Curtail and others. But anything containing dicamba (Banvel) will give decent results on Canada Thistle. At least it has for me. Canada thistle is a perennial, and control requires a multi-year program, meaning the rest of your life.
It would help if the IN DOT would spray the rights of way. Our roadsides are a huge source of those floating seeds.
 
John's post about DOT and rights of way as seed source got me thinking that some of you may not be aware that thistle seed is a common ingredient in commercial wild bird seed. If you or your neighbors feed the birds, read the label!
 
blackcowz":2uhu43yr said:
Oh heck, why do ya hate it so bad? When it's young and tender, just blooming, it makes nice hay. When it gets to this stage, sending out seed, it's still green, and I shredded near 25 acres of that stuff. Kick the cows out on it, and it's like haylage!

I had some that was over my head when I as sitting on the tractor. Must have gone 6 to 8 tons per acre. Need a discbine and a chopper to get her done...
 

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