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Thistles in switchgrass

LoessHillsArcher

LoessHillsArcher

PMA Member
We've got one small area that has sprouted quite the crop of thistles. I know nannyslayer talked about Milestone for thistles... but anyone know of a place to get a few ounces of Milestone?

What about 2-4d for thistles? Will it take care of them?
 
I might not know a lot about chemicals but I do know that 2-4d will not kill thistle it will only stunt it.
 
Here is the area as of a week ago... we'll hit them with something asap, just got to figure out what is best

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Will Roundup not kill thistles? I have a few too and I was just going to spot spray them with Rup and kill them off that way.
 
I'm guessing it will, but we don't want to wipe out any switch. This is a decent sized area to spot spray in our case. I'm guessing it would work though?
 
I have that same kind of weed/thistle in my native grass crp and one clover field. It grows in thick patches that spread out and get bigger every year. What the heck do you you call this weed anyway.Mowing has not helped at all.
 
Milestone will do the trick however, it works best in the fall after the first frost when everything is going to the root. Milestone is the best I have found for bull thistle and canadian thistle.
 
Thanks for the info Limb. I knew you gave this stuff a shot before, did you spray it on the thistles in the summer then?

I guess we'll just keep the thistles knocked back with 2-4d throughout the summer and keep them chopped down with corn knives... they'll get some Milestone in the fall
 
I know Widematch works good on thistle.....at least thats what my Dad tells me works good on his farm for Canadian thistle.
 
There is no selective herbicide that will ultimately kill thistle 2-4-d will kill it but not stop new plants from growing.
 
Thats why you dig them up to get rid of them...It sucks, but you save time and money in the long run...If your switch gets a good stand you may not have to worry about them ever again...the switchgrass will choke them out over time...
 
Milestone will kill your thistles out. It will take more than one application though to kill the entire stand. Spray it this fall, again in the spring, then again in the fall, and you won't have any thistles to worry about again. You can spray Milestone now with good luck, but spike your mix with a quart/acre of 2,4-D.
 
I used crossbow and 2-4d many years back and had great controll. Overkill? Maybe but effective and did not harm the grasses.
 
nannyslayer said:
Milestone will kill your thistles out. It will take more than one application though to kill the entire stand. Spray it this fall, again in the spring, then again in the fall, and you won't have any thistles to worry about again. You can spray Milestone now with good luck, but spike your mix with a quart/acre of 2,4-D.
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Sweet, thanks Brian! I was going to shoot ya a message. We'll be looking for a quart I'm sure... unless dad decides he wants to try something else instead, but this sounds like the way to go. We're going to have to wait a bit before hitting the young switch I assume, we'll let it get a bit bigger and established. We are thinking about mowing the thistles off this weekend just to keep them at bay for the next few weeks...
 
I was looking at prices for Crossbow vs Milestone.

1 gallon of Crossbow is $70 @ 4 qts per acre for thistles control = $70 an acre

1 quart of Milestone is $100 @ 7 oz per acre for thistles control = $20 an acre

It seems like Milstone would be the best way to go. Thanks for the help fellas! Hope someone else can find this helpful too
 
Sweet, thanks Brian! I was going to shoot ya a message. We'll be looking for a quart I'm sure... unless dad decides he wants to try something else instead, but this sounds like the way to go. We're going to have to wait a bit before hitting the young switch I assume, we'll let it get a bit bigger and established. We are thinking about mowing the thistles off this weekend just to keep them at bay for the next few weeks...
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Yep, Nanny got me started on the Milestone and it works. We needed to do fall after the first frost and spring then the stand of switch took over and other than spot spraying and digging some up we have a beautiful stand of switch. :way:
 
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