thistle spraying

[tomturkey]

Is it waste of time and 2-4D to spray Canadian thistle and musk thistle at this time of year in the midwest?? Have not had a killing frost yet but one could come at any time now. Seems like the musk thistle rosettes winter over. Thanks in advance for you help. The tool I will be using is a 4 gallon backpack sprayer. gobble

 

[SHALER]

You should get testimonials from happy customers like me using MILESTONE or GRAZON. If you spray now and dont get a frost for a few say 5 days you will be in good shape. I think 2-4 d will do an ok job too if you dont want to buy the good stuff.

 

[Phill Tibbetts]

I used Round up on thistles and they didn't come back. That was in the spring or early summer.

 

[Red Dave]

I've used Roundup on thistles with good results, sometimes a mixture of Roundup and 2,4,D on places where it wouldn't kill things I didn't want killed.

Whether it's too late to spray depends on where you are. Here in Southern PA, I don't think it is too late for this year, but I wouldn't wait long.

 

[rustred]

fall is the best time to be spraying, as the they are packing stuff to their roots for winter. did my whole farm with round up. mostly was after the quackgrass kill had a bit of thistle also. see in spring how it turned out , but it all turned brown now.

 

[fixerupper]

2-4D alone will nail musk thistles @1 Qt/A but for Canadian thistles You will need Grazon. If you use Grazon P&D dont plan on growing a broadleaf plant there for a few years because of the Tordon on the label. There is also Grazon Next. It might hurt broadleaves planted the next year but for pasture that is not a problem. Around here Grazon Next is the popular one for pastures.

This post was edited by fixerupper on 10/15/2021 at 03:50 pm.

 

[Jon Erickson]

All the answers are good, on this good question. 24-D is better than doing nothing. Atleast it sets the &*%$#*# thistles back. Grazon and Milestone are the best, and are worth the expense. This is best time of season to spray those thistles, yes. HOWEVER, the weather conditions are somewhat touch and go. Good idea to watch weather forecast and factor that into the strategy. Curtail is another spray chemical that is very effective also.

 

[JD Dave]

Spray now! Plants respond best in the Fall to non-selective herbicides because they are taking everything now back down into their roots before winter. Roundup or 2,4-D or even tank mix both with adequate surfactant and you're good to go.

 

[tomNE]

tordon is made for this but you have to buy RTU or have a licence. tordon is the active ingrediant in grazon! grazon is terribly overpriced but when you don't have a licence what do you do. I'd pick tordon rtu before grazon!

 

[504]

Cut them with a shovel then spray them,it really knocks them down.

 

[IowaJohn]

we're using 2-4d & tordon rtu, its frying Canadian thistles. They're turning grey the next day.

 

[SVcummins]

Lv6 at max rate and mso and a little dicamba . If they are growing still get em sprayed before they go to seed

 

[John B.]

I've always used just 2-4-D and had good luck. My MIL had thistles real bad in her pasture and some spots my wife and I called them Colonies. This is why we didn't mix any roundup in with the 2-4-D because we didn't want to kill large portions of the pasture grass. Broadleafs aren't like grasses where they shoot up new rhizomes throughout the growing season. So you don't have to worry about the Thistle taking the herbicide back to the root. If you kill the plant it won't come back. Mid to late summer is the best time to spray grasses to eliminate them because all the rhizomes have sprouted up for the year. You hear so many people say that roundup doesn't work like advertised because their grass came back after spraying it in the spring. This is because the new rhizomes underground were not affected by the roundup. They were actively growing. Like the label says best time for spraying certian weeds especially grasses is in August after a plant has reached full bloom/seed heads. Meaning the plant is done growing for the year and all the rhizomes have sprouted up for the growing season. Spraying plants is just like using insecticide you won't eliminate an insect unless you know it's life cycle before spraying.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I use glyphosphate with a hand sprayer in localized patches of thistle. Works good but there are always more seed in the ground to sprout.

 

[Dean]

I have been spraying with Crossbow these past two years mostly for dogbane. It is working but one must get enough on and spray at the proper time. Damn stuff rhyzomes and 2-4-D won't touch it.

I also have canadian thistles in my hay field and have sprayed a few test patches. They are turning yellow but it's too soon to tell. The dogbane is brown and brittle.

Anyone have experience with Crossbow on canadian thistles?

Dean

 

[WNYBill]

Does Tordon RTU really kill them or just set them back? I have used glyphosphate with a hand sprayer in localized patches of thistle and they turn brown/black but re sprout, everything around them is DEAD. I like the idea of cutting them with a shovel and just spraying Tordon on the root.... if it works. There would be much less overkill. Thunder sets them back but doesn't eradicate, just like yellow nut sedge.

 

[Hay hay hay]

I agree about Grazon Next. I sprayed thistles last week and it really nailed them.

 

[Hay hay hay]

This year I have used Crossbow in Hay fields, Grazon in pastures. Both seem to have killed the thistles. Crossbow is a bit better on woody like Dogbane, Grazon a little better on broadleaf. Results show quicker with crossbow, but after 2 weeks the results are similar.

 

[Hay hay hay]

Oh roundup will kill thistles....but it leaves bare ground. Next spring that bare ground is where the old weed seeds lurking in the ground will have a field day.

 

[danofarming]

Crossbow is GREAT. I use it in fence rows and on the callery pear (sticker trees) Bradford Pear Rootstock. Kills em Dead!