3 ms·

I sprayed a bunch of glyphosphate yesterday and I'll spray a bunch more today. I live on country property that is infested with yellow starthistle, an invasive

I sprayed a bunch of glyphosphate yesterday and I'll spray a bunch more today. I live on country property that is infested with yellow starthistle, an invasive noxious weed. Right now is it's growing season. There's absolutely no practical way to beat it back without chemistry. I'm sympathetic to concerns about our food chain but to the folks hoping for the downfall of Monsanto/Bayer: You are hereby invited over to pull weeds in 100 degree weather. I'll supply the beer.

manifestsilence 7y ago
I've done both chemical and manual removal of thistle in 100 degree weather, and I hear your pain. I don't think herbicide should be outright banned, but think it needs to be more carefully controlled and used more judiciously. I'm not familiar with starthistle in particular, but thistles can be controlled through timed cuts and/or burning the seed heads. Takes multiple years and a lot of work though.
snarfy 7y ago
There are alternatives. Vinegar works pretty well.
- stickfigure 7y ago
  From https://www.post-gazette.com/life/garden/2009/06/13/Carefully-apply-vinegar-to-eliminate-thistles/stories/200906130126 https://www.post-gazette.com/life/garden/2009/06/13/Carefull... [Vinegar] works as a contact or burn-down herbicide, which means that it only kills the portion of the plant it contacts. The thistle will re-grow from the roots, and you will have to make repeated applications until you exhaust the carbohydrate reserves in the roots. There is probably a lot of seed present in the soil, and new thistle plants will sprout that you will have to treat in future years. Just picture yourself doing this on 90ac of hills!
  - whenchamenia 7y ago
    Its not that bad for anything under 5-10 acres. Just mix in a dash of soap and a lil salt, and fill a backpack sprayer. Soak the plant, specifically the leaves, and you have a very selective, very benign herbicide. Full grown plants take more than 1 treatment many times, but with thistles, you can just carefully remove the heads.
gdubs 7y ago
Glyosophate is an emotional issue rather than a logical one. And there are rarely shades of gray in the conversation around chemicals. There’s a huge difference between air dropping tons of the stuff over a thousand acre monoculture, and spot spraying to control noxious weeds. I don’t think what you’re saying is overly snarky: when faced with the pragmatic challenges of managing a large amount of land, it changes one’s opinion. I mean, the chemicals involved in our day-to-day lives are countless. The judicious use of them for a reasonable, practical purpose isn’t so ghastly.

manifestsilence 7y ago

I've done both chemical and manual removal of thistle in 100 degree weather, and I hear your pain. I don't think herbicide should be outright banned, but think it needs to be more carefully controlled and used more judiciously. I'm not familiar with starthistle in particular, but thistles can be controlled through timed cuts and/or burning the seed heads. Takes multiple years and a lot of work though.

snarfy 7y ago

There are alternatives. Vinegar works pretty well.

stickfigure 7y ago
From https://www.post-gazette.com/life/garden/2009/06/13/Carefully-apply-vinegar-to-eliminate-thistles/stories/200906130126 https://www.post-gazette.com/life/garden/2009/06/13/Carefull... [Vinegar] works as a contact or burn-down herbicide, which means that it only kills the portion of the plant it contacts. The thistle will re-grow from the roots, and you will have to make repeated applications until you exhaust the carbohydrate reserves in the roots. There is probably a lot of seed present in the soil, and new thistle plants will sprout that you will have to treat in future years. Just picture yourself doing this on 90ac of hills!
- whenchamenia 7y ago
  Its not that bad for anything under 5-10 acres. Just mix in a dash of soap and a lil salt, and fill a backpack sprayer. Soak the plant, specifically the leaves, and you have a very selective, very benign herbicide. Full grown plants take more than 1 treatment many times, but with thistles, you can just carefully remove the heads.

gdubs 7y ago

Glyosophate is an emotional issue rather than a logical one. And there are rarely shades of gray in the conversation around chemicals. There’s a huge difference between air dropping tons of the stuff over a thousand acre monoculture, and spot spraying to control noxious weeds. I don’t think what you’re saying is overly snarky: when faced with the pragmatic challenges of managing a large amount of land, it changes one’s opinion. I mean, the chemicals involved in our day-to-day lives are countless. The judicious use of them for a reasonable, practical purpose isn’t so ghastly.