What Am I gonna do with this mess?

[Football Hunter]

Sprayed and sprayed this summer,the brassicas and clover is doing great,but the Johnson grass is pi$$ing me off.Just let it go this year?Mow It?What do ya'll think?

 

[dirtturner]

The only way I could get rid of JG was to kill everything that fall. Start with a good dose of Clarity and 'Roundup'. Spray around first of April. Then wait till first of may and check for any growth...if there is some respray with roundup and wait. I sprayed a field 5 times all year and left it alone for that year. Then started over and depending on what you want to grow, check with local ASCS guys or the Biologist and go from there. You will never get totally rid of JG unless you use soyabeans. There are sprays for clover (broadleafs) but they have not worked very well for me when used correctly.

 

[Football Hunter]

Do soybeans shade em out?

 

[Football Hunter]

BTW,this was a hay field for 20 years or so,but I will win,one way or another! :)

 

[Donk]

Plant crown vetch and it will choke it out.Also helps the soil out to boot.Hairy vetch will probably work too and is a lot cheaper

 

[eightpoint]

One of the big problems with johnson grass is that even with spraying you'll think you have it all killed. But when you till, you have tons of jg seeds that have been dorment that will come back. I've had good luck with spraying hard in early spring when it first greens up. Then burn it off. Repeat. After the 2nd spraying, just keep spraying it every time it greens back up. Then follow up with a fall seeding of small seeds and notill them. Clovers, brassicas work well. Even a little winter wheat (yes, you'll lose some to birds but if done just before a good rain it will still make a good plot).
The more tilling you do, you'll stir the jg seeds back up. Only way I can control mine with thru hot spraying and no till seedings. Spraying it in fall won't do a lot of good as it is going dormant anyway.
After 4 or 5 years you'll have a lot less of the stuff. One other thing that works is pulling it up by hand :) That way you get the roots. Every time I get a hard rain I go pull until my hands hurt. But it helps. Every bit I pull gets put in the county landfill. I hate johnson grass!

 

[TS_13]

It is of the devil

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

i wouldn't do a thing. There is still plenty of what you planted there. It will die off soon enough.

 

[Whitehorse]

Would having some taller grass perhaps give the deer a greater sense of security? May not be all bad...

 

[Beekeeper]

One of the big problems with johnson grass is that even with spraying you'll think you have it all killed. But when you till, you have tons of jg seeds that have been dorment that will come back. I've had good luck with spraying hard in early spring when it first greens up. Then burn it off. Repeat. After the 2nd spraying, just keep spraying it every time it greens back up. Then follow up with a fall seeding of small seeds and notill them. Clovers, brassicas work well. Even a little winter wheat (yes, you'll lose some to birds but if done just before a good rain it will still make a good plot).
The more tilling you do, you'll stir the jg seeds back up. Only way I can control mine with thru hot spraying and no till seedings. Spraying it in fall won't do a lot of good as it is going dormant anyway.
After 4 or 5 years you'll have a lot less of the stuff. One other thing that works is pulling it up by hand :) That way you get the roots. Every time I get a hard rain I go pull until my hands hurt. But it helps. Every bit I pull gets put in the county landfill. I hate johnson grass!

Anpther thing that JG does is it will start a new plant when you break the root. I have seen fields that are used for JG hay that all they do to them is run a cutting harrow through them every 3 to 4 years and they have a solid stand of the stuff.

 

[Football Hunter]

Would having some taller grass perhaps give the deer a greater sense of security? May not be all bad...

thought about that too,could be right on that,just makes me mad a little,I just HATE JG.My newly cleared plots are really nice,this is a very old field.Ill keep fighting in the spring.

 

[Boone 58]

i hate that mess!!!
no win situation..........really.

 

[hard county]

Mow now to let the sun in on the clover and greens, this spring try spraying with sethoxydim. The way to control weeds is making sure you dont spray to late the first time. If you will spray while the weed is small and keep the rest of the plot thick you should have some luck.

 

[Ripley Whitetail]

Use a wick bar to kill it. Great for killing weeds that are taller than crop. Used to be used heavily in soybeans 20 years ago. Type in wick bar for agricultural use on google if not sure what it is

Here is a link http://www.rodgersinc.com/photos.htm. You can make a smaller one but this link will give you an idea.

 

[fcgw]

No problem at all. Buy some poast herbicide. Its a grass selective herbicide that works well. Spray in spring before grasses get too high, allow clover and rape to head-out and produce seed. If clover is red or white bushhog later, clipping any broadleaf (non-grass) weeds prior to flowering and producing seed. Then spray additionally in the fall to take care of fall germinating grasses. Fall spraying of grasses prior to dormancy is very effective. Grasses are slow growing adding nutrients to root system for riding out the winter. Poast can be applied up to around six times a year so additional sprayings may be used if johnsongrass is persistent in between. Be patient with poast, it is slow with results. Growth stops within a few days but obvious results can take a couple of weeks to appear.

 

[fcgw]

BTW poast appears expensive at first, but the rate of application is two pints per acre max. A 2.5 gal jug goes a long way.

 

[hard county]

BTW poast appears expensive at first, but the rate of application is two pints per acre max. A 2.5 gal jug goes a long way.

Check the active ingredient in poast, sethoxydim, You can save about 75% by buying the bottle that simply says sethoxydim. Its the same kind of thing as glyphosate and roundup, farmers buy the resonably priced stuff, homeowners pay 3x more for a pretty label.

 

[Football Hunter]

good info

 

[Blue5]

good info