New pasture... weeds and overseeding

[Dadnatron]

Previous corn and soybean fields put into 20ac alfalfa/Orchard, 10 Straight Timothy, and 50 Bluegrass/Orchard.

I think some of the stand was hit by the winter and wet conditions so I have quite a bit of weeds and was hoping to spray weeds and overseed to get a better stand.

But, everything that would work like 2-4D and Dicamba prevents me from adding any seed for 30 days at the earliest.

Do you know of anything I can spray on the grass and still put in some seed? I know it痴 getting late in the year, but it痴 been so cool and wet this spring that this is the earliest it痴 been warm and dry enough to spray.

Would SPEEDZONE work? It痴 typically used in lawns and there is only a 1 week lag between spraying and planting. But I don稚 know whether it would work on pasture weeds.

I could ignore adding grass and just go to war with the weeds and add more seed this fall, which is always a real option, but I壇 like to give it the summer and fall to establish if possible.

 

[smstonypoint]

The Speedzone label lists the weeds that it will control.


http://newsomseed.com/resources/SpeedZone-LABEL.pdf


Are there different versions of Speedzone? That label says it contains 2-4,D and Dicamba, and reseeding can take place two weeks after reseeding.

Steve

 

[BrokenTrack]

We have tried what you are suggesting, but sadly we never had any luck with it. We always ended up starting over by busting sod. If your fields used Round Up Ready Corn and Soybeans then you most likely have some herbicide resistant plants anyway making what you propose even more less likely. (Sorry to be the one saying this, as I mean no disrespect, just explaining a possible situation).

If you had a lot of clover my suggestion would be to wait, as clover can take 2 years to really germinate, but your mix has none and is a really good mix I might add, so that is not it.

I think the mistake was made at sowing though. I sow 50 pounds of oats to the acre to keep the weeds at bay. The oats spring up quick allowing my mix of 50/50 clover/timothy to take root and suppress the weeds. Then I mow the oats about a foot or so high so that it does not shade out the clover/timothy.

The one thing you did not mention was fertilizer and lime. If the PH is low or high that would produce more weeds then the grass you would like to sow. I assume though that you limed/fertilized. In regards to the latter, if you used manure, it likely had lots of weed seeds in it since weed seeds pass through a ruminant without destruction meaning a person is basically sowing their fields when they spread manure.

If chemical fertilizer was used, another mistake could have been made, if the fertilizer was high in nitrogen. For starting grass, a person wants something very low in nitrogen (N), high in Phosphorus (P) and matched for the soil conditions in Potash (K). I use 05/13/41 in the fields I crop rotate from corn to grass, matching the application rate to a soil test of course.

At this point, I think your best bet is to refrain from spraying, apply lime/fertilize so your grass growth is optimized, and if you still dislike what you have, consider frost seeding next fall. I am not a huge fan of frost seeding as it is expensive and wasteful due to the lack of germination compared to what is sown (200% over that of drilled rates) but it may work better then ripping open the soil and starting over.

 

[joeu235]

the label I just ready for 2,4-d said do not plant for 7 to 14 days.

 

[Dadnatron]

I've decided (at the moment) that I will just spray and see what happens. I'm hoping the seed I put in is sitting there, just waiting to come up. It has been so cold and wet since November, that hopefully, when/if it warms up, I will see some better growth. And if not, I'll wait and decide whether to chance replanting or wait until fall.

I'm going to spray my Alfalfa/Orchard with Thunder this weekend if I see Amaranth coming up. I know I'm going to have a problem in a certain area, since I saw it last fall. I mowed it, but I likely spread the seed far and wide rather than did anything real to it. I will know here in a month or so.

On the Grass, I'm going to use Brash (Weedmaster) variant. (2-4D/dicamba). I have marestail which will become a problem if I can't address it.

Its funny, because these fields have been corn/soybean for many years. Last summer, I put them into annual rye. I didn't have much problem with weeds. This year I put into pasture and BAM!!! weeds out the wazoo!

 

[joeu235]

Did you plow up the field the past season? Every time I plow up a field, it's like awakening every weed seed from a long sleep.

 

[Dadnatron]

Didn't plow... but disced and cultimulched. So, in essence, the same thing. I stirred up some stuff which really took off. Pennycress, chickweed, and marestail seem to be the worst.

I'm not at all sure there is enough grass growing to be worthwhile. I might have to begin again come August. That would bum me out, given the amount of work I put in last fall. But reality is reality. I would use a preemergent herbicide this year, and spray winter/spring weeds when everything is dormant. Lots of things I'd do differently... But I hope I won't have to. I have a sprayer and planter now, so I won't have to be at the behest of custom work. (this was really what cost me I think. The guy I asked to spray couldn't get to it in time because of weather, then, he said "I'd just plant... it should be fine.")

I'd also add some oats to the whole thing rather than just wheat along the waterways.

Well... hopefully none of it will be an issue... but I know I'll be adding seed no matter what. And spraying... spraying... spraying.........