weeds with yellow flower

[9 ER]

i have weeds that have a long stem with little 5 pedal yellow flowers that have come up in my pasture and I was wondering what they were and what to do about them. I tried to post a picture but was unable to. I noticed a lot of other pastures that also have them. Some look completly covered and some just has a few like mine. Any thoughts?

 

[Dave]

Weeds or for that matter plants in general vary tremendously across the country. Off hand I can think of 3 or 4 different ones that fit your discription. And beings as I live a long ways from you it is probably none of the ones I can think of. It is probably best to take a sample of this plant to your county weed board, extension office, conservation district, or the NRCS. Any of those people should be able to identify it for you.
Dave

 

[Bama]

Probally wild buttercup. It can easily be controled with Grazon, outlaw, 2-4-d, or simular chems. It should have been sprayed just before blooming. It will still be killed out but after blooming apply the higher rate. Get it now, if you wait untill next year it will be everwhere. "speaking from experience"
Grazon and outlaw both require a license to purchase, but they do a better job than 2-4-d.

 

[Texan]

The description of a long stem makes me think that it's not a buttercup. We have had creeping buttercup bad over most of east Texas the last few years. It is more of a vine, that is dense growing in low, wet areas. Spreads like Bama said. If you decide that's what you've got, get on top of it quick!

I think we also have some of the weeds you're talking about, 9 ER. We've had them for years, but they seem to be worse this year than ever. If it's what I'm thinking about, they are a winter annual that are really more of an aggravation than something of economic importance. Pretty shallow rooted and they will die out soon and be gone quickly. Only problem is they are prolific seeders and you will have more of them next year. If it is what I'm thinking about, the seedheads mature into a puffball similar to a dandelion. They are just starting to mature now at my place.

Although I'm not positive, I suspect that this is the plant:

http://www.weedalert.com/weed_pages/wa_groundsel.htm

The picture of the flowers isn't very good, though. The flowers that I am talking about open up to about quarter sized or slightly larger. Still possible that this is what you have, 9 ER. Maybe you can look around and find a better groundsel picture. I've never been real concerned about the true identity of something as long as I can figure out what to kill it with.

On control, I sprayed about 30 acres of them in a hay meadow two or three weeks ago just to see what would happen. I used a real low rate of 2,4-D and only suppressed them. Will probably take at least 3 or 4 pints to kill them this late. Maybe more. And depending on where you're located south of Houston, you might just have to live with them instead of spraying them. Some of those farmers down there can smell 2,4-D from 40 miles away when you unscrew the lid.

 

[9 ER]

here are some not so good picts of them. I dont know how to enlarge them, sorry.
Thanks for the replies. AZ said basically the same thing as yall did. I didn't see these around last year and every pasture I've seen has them to some extent. Some worse than others.
My pasture is seperated in 2 parts and I sprayed one section today with 2,4-D. I put the heifers in the other section. Was not sure if it would harm them or not. How long should I wait until I spray the other section?

 

[joe]

Are the green parts prickly, sharp?

 

[NM CowBelle]

Lucky Us says 2-4-D has a 90 day residual effect. So you need to wait atleast 90 days.Lucky Us just got done getting his Chemical Applicators Licence and thats one of the major thing they covered in the classes.

 

[Bama]

I spray Grazon. It is a mixture of 2-4-d and picloram. There is not any grazing restrictions, except with lactating dairy animals. The biggest restriction is spraying around cotton. You cant spray anything containing 2-4-d within I think its 2 miles of cotton. You can spray Surmount in places where 2,4 -d is restricted. Its a mixture of picloram and huroxypyr. I'm not sure of the grazing restriction with it. I dont know how much 2,4 - d you sprayed per acre but it should be safe to put em back on it. No harm in waiting a couple of days, either. I have sprayed it with them still in the pasture with no problem's.

 

[dun]

If the flowers are very waxy looking they may very well be one of the million types of buttercup.
If they're a little softer colored and have 5 petals and kind of a viney looking plant may be one of the cinqefoils. We just leave them be. Neither one appears to be very invasive, it at all and they die out quickly in the spring. To us they're not much different then Johnny jump-ups,
the little violet looking things.

dun

 

[9 ER]

Are the green parts prickly, sharp?

no, the green leaves look like clovers, but are not rounded. They are more like 5 sided. The yellow flower is smaller than a dime.

If the flowers are very waxy looking they may very well be one of the million types of buttercup.

they aren't waxy looking at all. Had my dad come by and he believes that they are a type of daizy. I dont know what they are, but I do know that the 2,4-D put a hurting on them. Most of them on my place are coming up in the low spots and around the ditch that cuts through. All the rain this winter must have triggered them to grow. I have no idea :?:

 

[Bama]

Here a link to some weeds with yellow flowers
http://www.theseedsite.co.uk/weeds3.html

 

[cherokeeruby]

Thanks for posting the link Bama, appears I have quite a bit of ragwort on my place.

 

[Craig-TX]

Are the green parts prickly, sharp?

no, the green leaves look like clovers, but are not rounded. They are more like 5 sided. The yellow flower is smaller than a dime.

If the flowers are very waxy looking they may very well be one of the million types of buttercup.

they aren't waxy looking at all. Had my dad come by and he believes that they are a type of daizy. I dont know what they are, but I do know that the 2,4-D put a hurting on them. Most of them on my place are coming up in the low spots and around the ditch that cuts through. All the rain this winter must have triggered them to grow. I have no idea :?:

Yellow Woodsorrel?

Craig-TX

 

[Beefy]

Do any of yall have any goat grass? its blooming now, is reddish, has a sour taste.

 

[9 ER]

Thanks for the site Bama. Looks like we have a winner. It's the ever popular Creeping Buttercup. I dont know what caused mine to have long stems with little flowers. I'll spray the rest of the pasture shortly.
Thanks again for everyons help.
Kind of dissappointed that Caustic didn't post something like: "Shoot fire, you must be a newbie if you cant even get rid of a dang ol yeller flower. Why dont you leave the cattle raisin to us real cowmen?"

 

[sidney411]

I don't care who you are - that's funny :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Bama]

I'll give you another tip. Since its buttercup it will invade badly. When spraying I get next to the neighbor fence and raise the boom up. I also spray as far as I can get into his pasture also. I don't know if it helps much, but it makes me feel better.

 

[Bama]

Most weeds will take on slightly differant forms, as conditions dictate. The are enginered to reproduce. If mowed or bad growing conditions they will bloom on a shorter stem, and try to make seeds quicker. Have you evernoticed thistle. If left alone it will get tall before blooming. If mowed it will bloom not far from the rossette. Weeds have a real will to survive. Hope you don't have thistle. Its another nasty weed. It makes a rossette the first year then shoots up the next with purple flowers. Buttercup is fairly easy to control 2,4-d work wander on it. If it ain't to thick 2 pints of 2,4-d per acre will get it. This will knock your clover back but should not kill it. The rates per acre are not an exact science. Temperatur and humidity are big factors. The biggest factor is growth stage. For best results buttercup should be sprayed before blooming. I have not sprayed yet. Buttercup here is just beginning to flower. I'm waiting for the Dogfennel (AKA - summer cedar ) I will let the dogfennel get to about 6-8 inches than spray, I have found that a mixture strong enough to get dogfennel will also kill buttercup in the bloom stage. I spray 2 pints Grazon, with and extra pint of 2,4 - d per acre. It will knock back most everthing. It also kills my clover. One of the cheapest things you can do is know the calibration of your sprayer. Know exactly how much you are putting out per acre and you won't be wasting chemicals. This is done by taking you nozzle spaces in inches, and timing how long it takes to drive 128th of and acre. 204' in my case. Run the spray rig for this amout of time and collect from a average nozzle. Then you can determine exactly how much you are applying per acre. If you need me to I can post the fomular so you can figure it.