# Dallisgrass



## bb123149 (May 27, 2009)

Hay Wilson we are not that far apart in location. What do you do about Dallisgrass in your bermudagrass hay pasture?


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

Dallasgrass Paspalim dilatatum is the genius and species of a royal pain in the butt.

Dallasgrass likes wet feet better than most bermudagrass varieties. (The exception may be Jiggs.) It also is less responsive to fertilizer than all the bermudagrass varieties.

The cure takes time, but it is possible. 
Take care of any parts of the field that will allow water to stand. 
Plus apply lots of nitrogen fertilizer. (Every winter I apply at least 300 lbs of actual nitrogen) 
That is *366 lbs *up to 600 lbs of anhydrous. 
That is at least *666 lbs *of Urea up to 1,100 lbs of Urea/A. 
That is at least *1,000 lbs *of liquid 32% nitrogen, up to 1,500 lbs of liquid 32-0-0.

If your soil is anything like that at the Blackland Experiment Station at Temple, TX that nitrogen will not walk off and leave you. The exception is if water ponds for a week or so then where the water stood you will see a nitrogen deficiency.

The rule of thumb I go by is one half of the nitrogen I apply can be available to the bermudagrass, the year applied, *PLUS* half of any accumulated or residual nitrogen. 
In theory all residual nitrogen will be used in 5 years if no additional nitrogen is applied. Years and Years ago I applied *1,250 lbs of nitrogen *per acre on a two acre corner. Than mined the patch and that nitrogen persisted for 7 years, *with no loss of yield*. That is something that is in very few text books.

Anyway put 300 lbs/A of actual nitrogen per acre, and eliminate any little ponding spots in the meadow. This with 2 to 6 dry years will fairly well eliminate dallasgrass. . You may think I am acting smart, but my records show we have 2 dry years followed by one wet year cycle.

You can try some roundup as the fields are greening up in the spring or after a nice frost in the fall when the dallasgrass is green and the bermudagrass is brown. 
There are some other herbicides like maverick that are thought to set dallasgrass back.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

300 lbs of actual nitrogen is enough for 5 to 7 tons of hay per year. 
At that rate you should realize a ton of hay for every 4 to 5 inches of useful rainfall. During the wet years a lot of the extra water goes down the river to the Gulf and does us little or no good.

Watch the level of potassium in your hay. You want it to be between 2.00% & 2.50% K. This is also needed to get the yield per acre inch of rain.


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