# Do's and Don'ts of Huisache



## SilentH

Hello, my ranch is near East Bernard Texas and finally I have my Huisache under control and almost gone! After many years of fighting I would like to humbly give a list of Do's and Don'ts of managing and killing them!

DON'TS:


NEVER SHRED THEM! You do and instead of 1 to 3 mini trunks you will end up with 8 to 10 that will be wider and harder to kill in the future!

Don't believe that any number of them no matter how small is manageable! They will spread! They could care less drought or no drought!

Don't spray them with RoundUp! I have tripled the recommended RoundUp dose along with additional surfactant where I drenched the tree over and under every inch of a 4 foot huisache, then I watched It drop all it's leaves and the bark even turned white then only to see it come back about 3 months later!

Don't disc an area that has or did have a Huisache problem for you will have a new crop of them soon! Okay if you are prepared to get them when there young!

DO's:


Do use the cut-stump method! It's clean cut at the ground and you are putting the chemical immediately in the root zone!

Remedy and diesel with dye in a spot sprayer with some tree cutters is quick and 100% kill! Tip, best where one person is cutting and another spraying for doing this by yourself and you look away from the cut for just a second and you may not find it in the grass!

Do hire someone for a big job who has a Bobcat with tree shear attachment along with a sprayer as well! I used East Bernard Milling now Sanders. C.. J. cut, sprayed instantly with Remedy and diesel and then piled them up as well! That Bobcat took out Chinese Tallow trees that where over 30" in diameter in a matter of seconds! Do tag all trees you want to save regardless of size!

I like the cut-stump method for you can kill them all year round and no worries about wind when you are spraying an inch off the ground

Do kill them when they are young, for it's super easy and quick. I bought a Wiley sprayer capable of handling diesel for diesel will ruin a Fimco sprayer. Now that my huisache are under control I plan on spraying once maybe twice a year. A cheap 1 gallon sprayer from Home Depot will work for maybe a day, but if you don't have too much to do that might be the better way to go...

DO REMEMBER THIS, of all the above... DO NOT EVER SHRED THEM!!

Here is the link two the spray methods: http://texnat.tamu.edu/about/brush-busters/huisache/

Thanks for listening!

Mark


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## Vol

You fellas continue to do a good job on eradicating Huisache and maybe the rest of us wont have to worry about them....they remind me of locust here.

Regards, Mike

https://www.google.com/search?q=huisache+tree&espv=2&biw=1278&bih=626&tbm=isch&imgil=ld_QDEiTbElgCM%253A%253BVh7CDmXhiAF48M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fessmextension.tamu.edu%25252Fplants%25252Fplant%25252Fhuisache%25252F&source=iu&fir=ld_QDEiTbElgCM%253A%252CVh7CDmXhiAF48M%252C_&usg=__SAnnu37SQWELMj40GmIi7a5qNFE%3D&sa=X&ei=cigKVMz8Eo_pggTtlIHICg&ved=0CCYQ9QEwAw#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=ld_QDEiTbElgCM%253A%3BVh7CDmXhiAF48M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fessmextension.tamu.edu%252Fplants%252Fwp-content%252Fgallery%252Fhuisache%252Fhuisache_83_huisache-whole-plant.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fessmextension.tamu.edu%252Fplants%252Fplant%252Fhuisache%252F%3B800%3B533


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## SilentH

Mike thanks!

My Uncle Frank use to look out towards my field and say, "Wow, look at those beautiful golden blooming trees you have!" I'd reply, "Ain't it"

Well, no more can he say that! Meanest most useless bush ever!!


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## mlappin

Never heard of a Huisache before, here locusts can be a pain though.


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## SilentH

mlappin said:


> Never heard of a Huisache before, here locusts can be a pain though.


Seems to be a Texas thing... be glad you don't have them... In additional to as nasty as they are they have thorns close to 2 inches that have gone through a tractor tire on my smaller tractor. from and article...

"Huisache is fast becoming the most invasive woody species in South Texas.

Huisache is a root sprouter, which means if you cut the stem or trunk in some manner, buds on the root will sprout forming a new huisache plant with the massive root system from the old plant still intact. Root sprouting plants are almost immune to any mechanical treatment unless the root system is also removed with the treatment. The leaflets are very small and fragile. This makes foliar chemical treatment uncertain. If the chemical mix is too strong, the leaflets will fall off before the chemical can be absorbed into the plant. Huisache is a prolific seed producer and the seeds are eaten by birds, deer, cattle and hogs, as well as by many other mammals. If the seeds pass through the digestive system of a bird or animal, germination increases. Once a pasture accumulates approximately 15 percent canopy cover of huisache, new seedlings will emerge each year."


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## SilentH

Huisache seems to be a Texas problem. Would like to add if your Huisache are tall and many, I know Dow has a formula mixing Grazon Next HL, Grazon P+D and Tordon 22K

Dow conducted a study in 2009 on a mixed stand of 4 to 20 foot trees where after 2.7 years showing 80% kill rate... Dow calls it the "Grazon Next HL Huisache Mix

Anyway we kill them is fine with me! Cost wise maybe this is better alternative than the BobCat that I hired....

The bobcat cost $80 per hour, plus the Diesel and remedy to spray. Remedy I believe is around $84 per gallon. The ratio is 3 gallons diesel to 1 gallon of Remedy. They had an attachment he used to grab them and pile them up. They only charged actual run time, and like I posted before they can take out almost any tree as well. I had that done last January and very few Huisache have come back over the 30 acres he cleaned out... Maybe a dozen is all and I took them out as described above with a hand tree trimmer....

Your comments are welcome, and 2 last words; get them before they become a problem and NEVER SHRED...

Good luck with them!


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