Author Topic: Got a load of Sand Spurs (Read 18102 times)

Land_Owner · « **on:** February 02, 2014, 04:56:40 AM »

Don't know which bag of "premium" seed these were latent in, but they have taken over my field and for certain every wildlife trail to and from. No matter how much I kill the weeds in the field, I am thinking I will still be inundated by these from the game trails and only fire will cure this ill.

PowPow · « **Reply #1 on:** February 02, 2014, 06:36:08 AM »

Aren't sand spurs in Florida about like kudzu in Alabama? If they aren't growing where you are, wait a few minutes.

FPH · « **Reply #2 on:** February 02, 2014, 06:38:03 AM »

Once you have them, heaven help you getting rid of them.

Land_Owner · « **Reply #3 on:** February 03, 2014, 11:03:43 AM »

Any clue how detremental to wildlife they are? I have seen very few animals this season and have been wondering if the spurs have any part in that.

GeneRector · « **Reply #4 on:** February 03, 2014, 11:56:00 AM »

Howdy! I live in a part of Texas that is all sand. We grow Coastal Bermuda grass for hay. Sandburs are a real problem for us as well. There are some pre-emergents that can be put down before Spring as well as increasing the pH of the soil. You need to talk to your county agent and maybe wildlife officer about what can be done to manage sandburs. Good Luck! Always, Gene

Bugflipper · « **Reply #5 on:** February 03, 2014, 12:08:01 PM »

I fought them down in Sanford when I was a barn manager down there. Liming the pastures did them in. I don't recall the ph number but the extension office recommended in the higher range for the grass and clover of the pastures. Once they died out from the high ph I didn't see anymore while I was there, so evidently the seeds couldn't grow in it either.

Swampman · « **Reply #6 on:** February 03, 2014, 02:47:35 PM »

Have you tried 2-4D?

Empty Quiver · « **Reply #7 on:** February 04, 2014, 12:20:08 AM »

As I recall they are not exactly easy to get rid of with normal herbicides. Again I might be wrong but I believe they fall into the neither fish nor fowl category of weeds, that is neither grass nor broadleaf. Grass herbicides are what I think you need though.

They are an annual type weed which means you can get relief with a pre emergence type herbicide. Check with an extension agent. They have a pretty big seed which puts them in the tough to kill category.

no guns here · « **Reply #8 on:** February 04, 2014, 03:24:39 AM »

I live in what is supposedly one of the counties in Texas with the worst infestations of these. Pre-emergent seven years in a row... might work but then again, might not. The guys here that run really good horse quality hay spray every year.

NGH

Land_Owner · « **Reply #9 on:** February 05, 2014, 01:29:33 PM »

Pre-emergent sounds good. In many years and lots of attempts I can find no bulk (ag-) lime, slaked lime, or bag lime except the $300/acre variety (40#/bags and too expensive), to make raising pH a reasonable proposition.

I hear you. Higher pH and higher nitrogen (fertilizer), but after all, these are wildlife food plots with the probability of costing as much, or more, than the taxes on the land or the price of a reasonably good annual club lease.

Ranger99 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 05, 2014, 02:16:40 PM »

i don't know the availability there, but
here in east tx it's way cheaper to get
a co-op or feed or fertilize place to come
out and apply bulk lime for you with
the big truck. and what sw man said
about the 24d. i can't buy it here to
apply myself since i don't have a state
applicator's license, but it will take
out all but the bermuda and coastal-type
grasses. really good investment.
good luck

45-70.gov · « **Reply #11 on:** February 05, 2014, 02:46:19 PM »

i bought some roundup years ago....[maybe decades ago]

thinking it was 48%......made over 50 gallons if i remember correctly
[the good stuff in stores is 18%]
IT CAME WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR ARIEL SPRAYING

i think it cost about $150.....but not sure other than sure it has gone up

one day i mixted up 30 gallons.....and hooked up my pleasure washer to the drum
loaded into a trailer behind the riding mower......did some serious weed killing that cay
but what seems to work better...[more controllable]....is an airless paint sprayer

call me if you need any help.....i still have a paint sprayer and a pressure washer

Ranger99 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 05, 2014, 03:27:52 PM »

roundup (glyphosate) is really
a great herbicide, but it kills everything.
i use it for all the fencerows.

Land_Owner · « **Reply #13 on:** February 05, 2014, 05:08:56 PM »

...from long practice and use, the Gly won't kill the dormant seed. I have to apply, wait, reapply, wait, and perhaps even after 5 or 6 sprayings to kill emerging plants, all plants, I may still achieve spurs since soil pH and nitrogen are both low.

No co-ops here. Big fertilizer guys no longer come here. Decades ago maybe, before the Indian River Citrus up and died. Now, they are well to the south, 100's of miles, transportation costs extra, they want to ship a fully loaded tractor (22 tons - OK), but they do not spread. No one here spreads and I can't find any equipment up to 100-miles. Drop ship to my 20-acres? Not really feasible to hand spread 22 tons of powdered lime on 5 acres of plots. Can't store it.

Again, these are hobby plots and all of the $750+ for lime, $1000+ for fertilizer, bust tail sweat equity for no guarantee return on investment, at my age, just isn't for me.

I can economically Roundup with the Golf Cart, 25-gal. sprayer, and 8-foot distribution boom I made. Then tractor and disc the soil, wait, Roundup again, till, wait, roundup again, etc.

Ranger99 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 05, 2014, 05:42:21 PM »

that's a shame you can't get any ag
chem in bulk there. you'd save a bunch.

just a thought. you might try looking
at tractorhouse.com (if you haven't already)
and see if someone local might have some
pieces they're looking to get out from
under at a decent price. there's quite
a bit of spray equipment and the like
in this part of the world to be had.

GeneRector · « **Reply #15 on:** February 05, 2014, 06:30:06 PM »

Howdy! Land_owner: If you can determine about when the grassbur emerges, you may can do a spraying of Roundup. However, it may hurt other desirable plants. Sandburs are a real pain. They make products called Prowl and Pastura; however I believe this can only be sprayed by a licensed herbicide applicator. Also, you may can try keeping the sandbur areas mowed short to stop any new sandburs. Good luck! I am facing the same problem where I live. Always, Gene

Land_Owner · « **Reply #16 on:** February 06, 2014, 12:13:15 AM »

Ranger, thanks for the link. My large equipment purchasing days are over. I would think that a piece of ag lime spreading equipment, for resale, would probably be a "fixer upper", adding "insult to injury" per-se in trying to get something to work for me at a price that I would afford. Not to mention, where would I keep it...meaning build a shed...more $$'s.

Gene, I believe that I have passed or can pass the State's applicator qualifications for use of herbicides and insecticides for personal use. They may not even be required in FL for use by the owner on his personal property - if I remember correctly. In that instance, the State is saying, protect yourself, or not, it's your life...and I WOULD heed the manufacturer's instructions. I believe there are folks out there, walking around, who have had a snoot full of chemicals by short cutting instructions (lacking PPE's mostly or absorption through non-gloved handling), and to them, life is "normal" as they see it. But to you and me, we KNOW they're a full bubble off of level.

Swampman · « **Reply #17 on:** February 06, 2014, 02:17:33 AM »

You can bag them up and sell them to Yankees as porcupine eggs and make a killin'.

45-70.gov · « **Reply #18 on:** February 06, 2014, 02:48:47 AM »

you land seems too wet for sand-spurs
any chance of just over planting brown top millet..sorghum etc and just choking them out??

maybe a good shot of roundup and then a week or so later.....
over plant some competing vegetation/bait food

Land_Owner · « **Reply #19 on:** February 06, 2014, 04:17:48 AM »

Quote from: Swampman on February 06, 2014, 02:17:33 AM

You can bag them up and sell them to Yankees as porcupine eggs and make a killin'.

Your killin' me Smalls...I like it! ROFLOL

I think 45-70.gov is on to something in choking them out. IF I keep the land planted in thick sorghum, which I REALLY like, how long are the spur seeds that are already in the ground dormant and viable?

no guns here · « **Reply #20 on:** February 06, 2014, 04:39:42 AM »

For years... I've heard 7 years, I've heard up to 20 but that's just what I've heard. I have nothing definitive on those things.

NGH

hunt-m-up · « **Reply #21 on:** February 06, 2014, 02:50:55 PM »

Quote from: Swampman on February 06, 2014, 02:17:33 AM

You can bag them up and sell them to Yankees as porcupine eggs and make a killin'.

Maybe in the Northeast, not here, and you're too late it's been done before with cockleburs, not sandburs. Tall thick cover crops or native grasses and mowing the edges will go a long ways towards keeping them down. They're pretty common on the edges of cornfields. One of the pasture products might work, be worth a shot vs. continually having to go through the Roundup burndown cycle. As far as dormancy, I'd hate to try to outlive most of the weed seeds, they have a way of showing up when you think you have them licked. Gotta love a pant leg or shoelace full of sandburs. As far as wildlife I'd say they're harder on hunting dogs, watch them stop and sit down every so often to dig one out of a paw with their mouth, might keep the coyotes out.

Bugflipper · « **Reply #22 on:** February 07, 2014, 03:18:41 AM »

I found a product cheaper than roundup and more effective. It's called AgriSolutions Cornerstone Plus. It was $40 for 2.5 gallons and is concentrated like roundup. I think it is 2 oz to a gallon, can't quite remember. Almost to effective. I killed a large crape myrtle, half of my 30 ft plum tree and a very healthy blueberry bush by spraying the water suckers that I thought was seedlings coming up. I learned the hard way to not spray anything that I didn't want dead.

It takes about a week but goes to bare dirt in about 2 or 3 weeks. It even kills the wild japanese privet hedge that's so hard to get rid of in the South. As well as all the 4-6" diameter trees overgrown on fence lines. It came from a TN co-op store, in my state it was $20 more, but would have been well worth it after I've seen how much better it does than the other ones I used to use. I couldn't tell you what kind of herbicide it is, but the ground stays bare for the rest of the year with one spraying so assuming it kills the seeds as well. With roundup I would have to spray 3 or 4 times because of seedlings sprouting and it just left brown grass. I imagine that stuff would work well for spot spraying.