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Native Warm Season Grass

Milestone

Does anyone have experience using Milestone during NWSG establishment (Big/little blue and Indian grass...not Switchgrass)?

The DowAgro website says that aminopyralid (Milestone) planted at the time of NWSG seeding will reduce grass stands 25-90%.

But, it says it is OK to use Milestone after secondary root growth, or approx. 45-60 days after germination.

I have read on other threads of someone using a Milestone 4 oz/Plateau 6 oz combo at time of planting. I tried Plateau/Gly this year and was in a jungle in sixty days with literally 6 foot Ragweed over my head in some areas and willow matts in others, without fertilizer of course. The broadleaves are killing me.

I would also be interested to know if anyone has tried a "mid-summer" Milestone spray. Thanks
 
I believe Milestone is safe to used on NWSG once it has 3-4 leaves or you can just clip the broadleaves off and they'll probably be done for the summer.
 
I will be frost seeding switch, indian, and big blue for the first time in switch field i have been trying to rejuvinate.
About 60% of the field is dead from the oust and gly i have sprayed throughout the year. How important is it to kill what sparatic stuff is left this year or can i do it in the spring?
Also how does some of the dead stuff laying there effect the seed to soil contact? (i am seeding about 6 acres and just realized that seed is not cheap). Do i need to clear the field some how?

OR

Also kicking around the idea of discing in spring and seeding along with planting some corn into stand. Spacing the corn aways apart. Then hitting with atrazine.

Any thoughts?
 
You can't use atrazine on Indiangrass or little Bluestem and the dead thatch won't hurt anything if dormant seeded this winter, wet snow and heavy late winter rains will help seed make soil contact.

Planting with corn can work if the corn is not planted at too heavy of a population but Indiangrass rules out the use of atrazine.
 
Will fire hurt notill drilled seed? I just had a chemically burned field drilled and there are some cedars cut down in it. If I burned that field with fire would that hurt those seeds?
 
SWBUCKHNTR said:
Will fire hurt notill drilled seed? I just had a chemically burned field drilled and there are some cedars cut down in it. If I burned that field with fire would that hurt those seeds?
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Might be kind of risky because the drill likely laid the seeds on top of the soil rather then covering them. Kind of late to be sowing NWSG now??
 
dbltree said:
Might be kind of risky because the drill likely laid the seeds on top of the soil rather then covering them. Kind of late to be sowing NWSG now??
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Yeah tell me about it. We had a wet spring in the lacona area and couldnt get them in. The county was nice enough to give me an extension but they wouldn't work with me on the date. I had from the 1st of sept until the 30th. I pushed for a frost seeding but they had no part of it.
 
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What is the best way to control strips of johnsongrass in native grass. The previous landowner let it get a little out of control, so now the patches are big enough I really don't want to spot spray and kill a big area of everthing.

I have been thinking about a weed wiper, anyone have any experience? The strips of Johnsongrass are kind of long a narrow, and the JG is a lot taller than the natives in these spots. It is amazing how tall and quick that stuff grows, even in drought conditions.

Otherwise I will just start spraying with RU and have big dead spots until I get it killed.
 
How about spraying round-up in spring with something like atrazine right before natives come up? Or Oust.
 
Correct me if Im wrong, but I think/thought that JG is also a warm season grass, so it is greening up the same time as the natives.

Is JG a cool season?
 
I might look at the Oust label. JG is a tough one and ya, it's a warm season now that I think about it. Oust might not be the best option BUT I'm sure Dbltree could comment on that later. Oust COULD be an option BUT.... Is this sparse enough you could spot spray and reseed in those areas?
 
KSHUNTER said:
Correct me if Im wrong, but I think/thought that JG is also a warm season grass, so it is greening up the same time as the natives.

Is JG a cool season?
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Outrider will toast your JG and is safe for at least most native warm season grasses...another name for it is Certainty Herbicide. :way:
 
Thanks guys, outrider looks like it will work great for me. I mainly have a mix of bluestem and indian grass, both are labeled for safe use.

I have always wondered what the road crews were spraying on JG, and not nuking the native it was growing beside it, I bet this is it.
 
October 9th, 2011

Often first year NWSG appears to be a failure because plants tend to grow down rather then up and if there is weed competition, what little growth there is may be difficult to find. Herbicides like Panoramic/Plateau help reduce or eliminate competition and speed growth of NWSG seedlings and making it easier to discern the native grass from weeds. I dormant seeded NWSG in December 2010 using a Truax no-till drill and sprayed 1 quart of 41% glyphosate along with 6-8 ounces of Panoramic in April 2011. Cold wet weather delayed germination and then hot dry weather slowed growth in late summer but the use of herbicide allows me to share just how small some seedlings are the first year.

I turned in this area with the sprayer so got higher rates here which also happens to be an area of poor clay subsoil with low organic matter...but most of the plants shown are NWSG...

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Indiangrass

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Little Bluestem

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Plant size varies across the field and many Big Bluestem plants are over my head...just as many are not and if this field had not been sprayed and full of foxtail...one might struggle to find any NWSG plants at all!

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At 6-8 ounces the Panoramic did not control pigweed although it never got thick enough to ever inhibit growth of the NWSG seedlings and some alfalfa slowly struggled to return but again, not enough to compete with the NWSG.

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I left out the switchgrass because at rates above 3-4 ounces Panoramic can kill young switch seedlings so I will frost seed the switch and any Panoramic non-tolerant forbs at the same time. There is plenty of bare soil for great soil seed contact and the switch seeds are easy to broadcast and the other natives will be well enough established to out compete weeds in 2012 without using any weed control.

Meanwhile...deer are happily feeding on the surviving alfalfa plants while using the young NWSG for cover....

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October 29th, 2011

One of the fields I dormant seeded in early December 2010 to a NWSG mix of tall grasses and forbs and then sprayed with 8 ounces of Panoramic this past April. Whitetails are using this field heavily for bedding cover already...

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Pigweed and some marestail invaded mid summer but not enough to affect the growth of the NWSG.

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Now in CRP there I have gained much needed cover on my farm and deer are happy to use the hill side cover

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In the coming year the natives will mature, the annual weeds will not return and whitetails will quickly adapt to this safe bedding sanctuary that other then burning, will not be disturbed... ;)
 
So I never got around to mowing and spraying my intended areas that I would like to establish warm season grasses (buffer strips) . Its prob to late to spray? Is their anything I can do to help prepare for Spring planting of warm season grasses now? Or whats my best plan of action?
 
medicsnoke said:
So I never got around to mowing and spraying my intended areas that I would like to establish warm season grasses (buffer strips) . Its prob to late to spray? Is their anything I can do to help prepare for Spring planting of warm season grasses now? Or whats my best plan of action?
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Unfortunately there is little you can do this time of year...BEST plan is to get it done properly next summer/fall and seed next winter.
 
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