# Milkweed



## PaMike

What is everyone using to control Milkweed? I often spot spray with a mix of crossbox and 2,4d amine. I want to use the booms and spray some larger areas. Crossbow label says up to 1 gallon per acre for suppression. A gallon per acre is a little expensive just for suppression!!!


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## JD3430

Mike I just used cimmaron and 2pints 2-4-d per acre with excellent results about 3 weeks ago. Smoked the milkweed and dogbane into brown twigs. I was generous with the surfactant. 
I did a slightly weaker mix on the 2-4-d on another field and it didnt get the horse nettle. 
Gonna have to hit it again this week. PITA.


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## slowzuki

I've been spot spraying with round up. Its not fast.


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## Bonfire

Few weeks ago I used a tank mix of 24D, Dicamba, Aminopyralid, and surfactant. 24D was at 2 qt/acre, Dicamba was at 1 qt/acre and Aminopryalid was at 7oz/acre. My main target was a good crop of Horsenettle. It turned the MW brown and turned the nettles upside down. I suspect the MW will be back. I've never had any luck in controling/killing a MW plant. Just suppression.

Isn't Crossbow Triclopyr and 24D? You could go buy generic of both and make your own.


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## FarmerCline

Bonfire said:


> Few weeks ago I used a tank mix of 24D, Dicamba, Aminopyralid, and surfactant. 24D was at 2 qt/acre, Dicamba was at 1 qt/acre and Aminopryalid was at 7oz/acre. My main target was a good crop of Horsenettle. It turned the MW brown and turned the nettles upside down. I suspect the MW will be back. I've never had any luck in controling/killing a MW plant. Just suppression.
> 
> Isn't Crossbow Triclopyr and 24D? You could go buy generic of both and make your own.


 Yep, Crossbow is a mix of 2,4d ester and triclopyr. I sprayed 1 quart of remedy(triclopyr) and 2 quarts of grazon p&d an acre last year on some milkweed and thought I got a real good kill but it's back this year. Tried 1 quart of weedmaster(2,4d/dicamba mix) this year and it just made it mad.


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## PaMike

JD3430- How much cimmaron per acre?


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## Hayman1

*Surmount*-works great in july for dogbane, thistle, milkweed and a host of other stuff like plantains etc. can't remember if it gets multiflora rose or not, but I pretty much have that extinguished on all my ground. Weeds should be developed but not at seed head stage


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## JD3430

PaMike said:


> JD3430- How much cimmaron per acre?


Going off memory, I think it's .375 oz/ acre.


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## PaMike

Thanks. I might try cimmaron. I have chemgro spray my rye with it in the spring and it really works. Might as well get some, then I can spray the rye myself...


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## JD3430

I don't think cimmaron is restricted.
Surmount sounds interesting.


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## Bonfire

Surmount is restricted. Contains Picloram.


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## slowzuki

Milkweed has large reserves of starch in its roots, I've found if you can kill it mid season then again right before it sets seed in the fall you will get about a 75% reduction for next year. Repeat next year and same story. Eventually you get down to just new seedlings that have set from seed.


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## Hayman1

That's funny, found the same thing. It is a multiyear process with milkweed due to the reserves. I figured about 60-75% reduction the first year. Dogbane is somewhat similar but not as bad as milkweed. Point is, you can get it under control in about 2 years to the point that you can go hoe a couple of plants when you are out checking your fields in general or while you are having a beer in your gator admiring your's and the Lords good work


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## IHCman

I generally don't get to worked up over milkweed as I've watched my cattle seek it out and eat it without any apparent effects to them and don't sell much hay. I will spray it in the ditches or if I'm driving past it out in a pasture or hayfield. Usually have Tordon (restricted use) in my tank for spot spraying leafy spurge. Leafy spurge, Absynith Wormwood, and Canada thistle are my three main weed concerns. Found a spot of yellow toadflax last year that I wasn't to happy about, but wetted it down good with an atv sprayer using tordon and haven't seen any in that spot yet this year.

Recently learned what dogbane is and that will be on my hit list as well.


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## Hayman1

problem here is if you don't do something about milkweed it keeps spreading. It is much easier to hit it when it isn't too dense-same with dogbane. The root reserves just make it a different animal than horse nettle or some of those other pests. Kind of like Johnson grass-get it early.


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## JD3430

Speaking of horse nettle: do it take a while to die? I sprayed some a while back and it curled and got lighter green or yellow, but won't die and fall. 
Afraid I'm running out of time to wait for it to die.

What good is spraying if the weed just stands there like a fence post and gets in your hay anyways, even if its dying or dead?


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## Vol

Very few herbicides will kill horsenettle.....and when you do kill it it does not "fall". The leaves drop off and you have a brown stem left. So it just depends on what you used.....and it has been stated by many herb. manufacturers that it is much more effective when the plant is slowly dying. Horsenettle can have a tremendously long tap root....several herbicides can "suppress" nettle but not kill it.

Regards, Mike


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## JD3430

Funny, the stems have turned black in spots, but it still looks semi-alive. 
I guess some of it is going to end up in my hay.


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## Hayman1

As I recall-its been two years- surmount killed it but the stem is too woody for it to fall down. Something else I have used (probably forefront) also did a number on it but same physical result which is why I assume it is due to the woody like stem. chaparral will likely do a number on it but will also do a number on timothy and fescue when you want to spray Horsenettle


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## Hayman1

Another thing, spray earlier when HN is like 2-3 ", more susceptible I think and less obvious.


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## SVFHAY

So I went to my local FS location intending to buy surmount, per recomendation of haymen, and they will gladly sell it. However they have never sold a drop, have to ship it in and after checking claim it doesn't do a job on milkweed. They recommend2 pt banvel. I said I haven't been killing with that and they said if you don't spray it around 3" tall level you won't kill it with anything. What do you all think?


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## Vol

How much do you have? Several plants over several acres or isolated patches?

Regards, Mike


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## JD3430

Doesn't FS sell cimmaron? Mixed with 2 pints 24D you'll be happy. Not too expensive, either


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## PaMike

I went to the farm store for cimmaron. They didnt have it, but have some generic that was really cheap. Same active ingrediant at the same percentage. 10 oz (or was it 8?) was only $50.

GOTTA spray this week. was going to spray last week but didnt get it done. I hate spraying. Its just "one of those jobs..."


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## SVFHAY

some in patches , some fields with quite an infestation. Never had problems before the last few years . Watched the neighbor kill a sod dead last fall with milkweed patches. Smoked it good. Plowed this spring, disced, harrowed, planted corn and sprayed. Beautiful crop of corn. And milkweed patches looked good too. Maybe thay won't survive this season as the corn has outgrown them. Tough rascals....


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## SVFHAY

JD3430 said:


> Doesn't FS sell cimmaron? Mixed with 2 pints 24D you'll be happy. Not too expensive, either


They said cimmaron would cost more and control less than banvel at 2 pint. What growth stage was the mw when you sprayed? This might be the right choice because harvest restrictions might be less with cimmaron/24d than banvel


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## rajela

24D Amine is 30 day hay restriction.


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## 8350HiTech

JD3430 said:


> Doesn't FS sell cimmaron? Mixed with 2 pints 24D you'll be happy. Not too expensive, either


At what growth stage are you having success with this mix? I'm tempted to try it.


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## endrow

Cimmaron would have the lowest harvest and grazing restritions I always liked that . I use some Cimmaron and I used it when it had its old name Ally. It is a good product very safe too we like it for pasture ,but when ever we sprayed grass hay fields we bale hay on we thought it lowered the yield a lot .


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## FarmerCline

Cimmarron is supposed to be okay for orchard grass but will reduced the yield on fescue and is very hard on timothy.


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## davang

Bonfire said:


> Few weeks ago I used a tank mix of 24D, Dicamba, Aminopyralid, and surfactant. 24D was at 2 qt/acre, Dicamba was at 1 qt/acre and Aminopryalid was at 7oz/acre. My main target was a good crop of Horsenettle. It turned the MW brown and turned the nettles upside down. I suspect the MW will be back. I've never had any luck in controling/killing a MW plant. Just suppression.
> 
> Isn't Crossbow Triclopyr and 24D? You could go buy generic of both and make your own.


Be careful with this because the concentration of triclopyr is higher in the standalone product versus the concentration of triclopyr in crossbow. It's about 14% in crossbow ( 36% 2,4 D) about 2:1 D to triclopyr. SO don't do what I did last year and burn my grass with too much triclopyr.


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## Bonfire

davang said:


> Be careful with this because the concentration of triclopyr is higher in the standalone product versus the concentration of triclopyr in crossbow. It's about 14% in crossbow ( 36% 2,4 D) about 2:1 D to triclopyr. SO don't do what I did last year and burn my grass with too much triclopyr.


Did you use the standalone product or Crossbow?

I buy Triclopyr 4 from Alligare. Mix it with 24 D and Dicamba. It did a hellava good job on sweet gum trees in the pastures.


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## JD3430

FarmerCline said:


> Cimmarron is supposed to be okay for orchard grass but will reduced the yield on fescue and is very hard on timothy.


Before I knew it was hard on Timothy, I used it and killed off a small amount of Timothy I had in one of my fields. So yes, that's true. Can't use Cimmaron in Tim.


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## PaCustomBaler

Cimarron shouldn't be used on Timothy fields less than 1 year old, or Fescue fields less than 2 years old, or else you'll fry it.

I always ever used 1 pint Dicamba (Banvel) and 1 pint 2,4-D per acre, along with couple pounds of N per acre to kill milkweed and dogbane.

Here's a helpful link for you boys...good reference for a variety of grassland herbicides: http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fieldcrops/forages/pests/pastweed11.pdf

Thanks for keep the thread alive


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## Vol

Maybe we should contact Iowa DNR and Ag Depts. and ask them what they recommend for killing Milkweed in our hayfields.  ......just joking....we do need to keep these beauties around.

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com/article/iowa-dnr-agriculture-departments-form-monarch-butterfly-consortium-NAA-news-wire/


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## BrangusFeeder

I put out weedkill and grasshopper kill over whole place last year, don't ask me what I don't remember. Anyway, it did good to wipe out most grasshoppers, and may have stopped new weeds, but the mature ones did not go anywhere. So I have just started pulling them out by hand. It's good exercise and it feels like you've accomplished something. Then I take a benadryl, a shot of honey jack, and a nap.


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## BrangusFeeder

duplicate, can't delete


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## Bonfire

I'm all for helping the pollinators. This is kinda like being told to keep the rotary mower at the house to help bird habitat. Weeds and thickets. Yea, but not in the hay fields.


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## Yogi

So, is there anything you can use on milkweed and still sell the hay?


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## Bonfire

Yogi said:


> So, is there anything you can use on milkweed and still sell the hay?


Funny you bring this up. Article from yesterday.

http://www.porknetwork.com/community/baise-environmentalists-seek-limits-glyphosate-use


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## Yogi

Yea, I am sure a lot of the Round Up Ready products will see more and more of this.


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## Vol

I don't know whose a bigger threat to this country.....muslims or the epa.

Regards, Mike


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## rajela

Yogi said:


> So, is there anything you can use on milkweed and still sell the hay?


You can still sell the hay if your using a residual spray. You will just need to make sure that the buyer isn't going to use the manure from feed livestock as compost or fertilizer on any plants that he wants to keep. All my hay is sold to local cattlemen that only feed to cows and any residual carry over would only kill unwanted weeds.


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## deadmoose

Vol said:


> I don't know whose a bigger threat to this country.....muslims or the epa.
> 
> Regards, Mike


The EPA. Bigger problem is you look up the chain and the chief @ the top is a Muslim. He wont admit it tho. Except to Allah. And others of that faith.


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## Yogi

One of the local co-ops here is recommending 1.5 pints of Grazonnext HL and 1 pint of Remedy Ultra per acre.

Anyone used this recipe?


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## rajela

I just use the 1.5 pints of next HL.....


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## Bazooka

I have been experimenting (playing) with milkweed for a couple three years, so I am growing a few dozen plants. I keep thinking there is something good that's got to come from that sap or plant. Kinda like nobody probably anything good could come from mold. So far just a lot of time and effort with nothing ++ on the horizon. 15 years ago I was desperately trying to kill it and now I am growing it. How times change.....


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## Bazooka

Bazooka said:


> I have been experimenting (playing) with milkweed for a couple three years, so I am growing a few dozen plants. I keep thinking there is something good that's got to come from that sap or plant. Kinda like nobody probably anything good could come from mold. So far just a lot of time and effort with nothing ++ on the horizon. 15 years ago I was desperately trying to kill it and now I am growing it. How times change.....


probably going straight to hell for that last post if you guys get your way


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## Yogi

Seeing how penicillin came from mold,

I am sure if you come up with something as equally important as penicillin from milkweed, we will all be planting milkweed!


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## Vol

Bazooka said:


> probably going straight to hell for that last post if you guys get your way


Not really......I really sympathize with the plight of the Monarch....I wish I had a remote location that was isolated and I would plant/infest the locale with Milkweed and let it take over.

Regards, Mike


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## slowzuki

There used to be uses for milkweed, there is latex in the sap just not enough to be commercially viable. Also the pods can be used for some kind of oil absorbent as they repel water but absorb oil.


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