Buttercups take two!

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kat2290

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Following on from my last thread about buttercups it has now been just over 3 weeks since I sprayed one half of my field with Depitox and it has made b*gger all difference. As it stands I now have a field one half of which is totally over run and the other half has about 20% less buttercups but still a pretty good carpet of them.

I feel like I have a few options but not sure which is the best way to go.

Option 1 - Give up! Leave it till next year or at the very least try again in autumn. Advantages of this option are it is obviously the easiest, and that having the buttercups there is helping keep the grass at bay which is no bad thing for my Shetlands. Disadvantages are, although neither pony seems to be having a reaction to the buttercups now perhaps they will develop burn on their muzzles if I don't address them. Other big disadvantage is they will drop their seeds.

Option 2 - Strim heads of buttercups, leave to wilt in field and don't bother weed killing. Advantages are hopefully ponies will eat strimmed bits once they have wilted, and it will stop them from seeding (I think???) Disadvantages - will the cups just grow back stronger after having their heads chopped off? Will chopping heads off make ponies more likely to suffer from burn as they will be brushing against the stems which I presume will be a bit sappy after being cut?

Option 3 - Strim and then spray again with Depitox. Advantage - should be the most effective however I have doubts after first attempt (although did not Strim before first attempt so this could make a difference) Disadvantage - most labour intensive. If it doesn't work I will have wasted more weedkiller.

Discuss!! :D
 
The active ingredient in Depitox is 2-4-D and I have found that to be less effective than herbicides which have MCPA, dicambar and mecaprop in them (Pierce is one, I think RelayP is another). But even that mix won't kill the flowers, you need the leaves to be sprayed. Buttercups in flower seem to have very little leaf, maybe strim a few and see whether they regenerate as leaves and spray them?
 
I was given the tip about strimming before applying weedkiller by another poster on my last thread. I presume the idea is that you strim them and then leave them for a few days before spraying during which time they will start trying to grow again and will therefore take in more weedkiller. But I'm still sceptical about whether it will work and I don't really want to waste weedkiller for the sake of it, I would rather save it for next year!
 
We just had a contractor in to top our field to get rid of them, and the field looks amazing now - totally worth doing. I think you have to do it several years on the trot to make a difference but better than weedkillers imho.

I think with the wet hard winter, they have been able to spread so quickly given that they will colonise any bare patches quicker than grass due to the creeping of their stolons.
 
We have our fields topped - doesn't stop the weeds growing in the first place, but lovely to see them after, when all the docks and buttercups have been de-capitated!
 
I think the good thing about topping is that it still leaves all the meadow herbs you expect and want in a field for variety, but stops some persistent ones dominating, whether thats buttercups, docks, nettles, thistles or something else.

Ours have just moved out of the ragwort field, so we can make sure its all out (been pulling it for a few weeks now, but it needs a blitz) before they go back in late summer - ruddy stuff!
 
I don't think Depitox on it's own will kill them - you need to mix it with Agritox (or equivalent) so I wouldn't bother with option C. It's also very late in the year to spray effectively (spray in May = stay away, spray in June = be back soon)

Option A and B will still leave the ones you have there - but you can spray them in early spring (before they have flowered) with a mix of the two chemicals and have a much better chance of killing them.

I would do Option B so at least you don't get too much more seed on the field - as my lovely farmer neighbour says - one years seed is seven years weed!!
 
Mmm I think you are probably all right that topping is the way to go, that will be a nice afternoon task for me!

Polos mum, I've been told before that I should mix it with agritox but I'm not sure that I can justify spending another £40 on more chemicals. If I had a lot of land I wouldn't think twice as at least it would get used but with my measly 1 acre I use so little of it I'm not sure if I can justify buying another 5litres! It will take me a decade to get through the stuff and I'm not sure of the shelf life of these products. On the other hand if they last forever then it works out pretty cheap!
 
Hmm does the Depitox bottle not have a use by date on it?

Maybe there is something else that has the same active agent in it as Agritox that you could buy in smaller quantities.

It seems a waste to keep using the Depitox if you know it won't work - unless there are other weeds that it's helping you get rid of!
 
Yes I agree it is a waste of money! When I bought it I went in to my local agri merchants and spoke to their agronomist(sp?) he said depitox is the best thing for getting rid of them and didnt mention anything about needing to mix it with anything else...so I'm still holding out hope for next year if I do it earlier than I did this year. I know the first spray I did was too late as they had already flowered but I went ahead and did it anyway as I didn't know what else to do and ever the optimist I was still hoping it would work!

I can't find a shelf life on the label but the manufacturers are very helpful so I will give them a call :)
 
kat2290 said:
Following on from my last thread about buttercups it has now been just over 3 weeks since I sprayed one half of my field with Depitox and it has made b*gger all difference. As it stands I now have a field one half of which is totally over run and the other half has about 20% less buttercups but still a pretty good carpet of them.

I feel like I have a few options but not sure which is the best way to go.

Option 1 - Give up! Leave it till next year or at the very least try again in autumn. Advantages of this option are it is obviously the easiest, and that having the buttercups there is helping keep the grass at bay which is no bad thing for my Shetlands. Disadvantages are, although neither pony seems to be having a reaction to the buttercups now perhaps they will develop burn on their muzzles if I don't address them. Other big disadvantage is they will drop their seeds.


Option 2 - Strim heads of buttercups, leave to wilt in field and don't bother weed killing. Advantages are hopefully ponies will eat strimmed bits once they have wilted, and it will stop them from seeding (I think???) Disadvantages - will the cups just grow back stronger after having their heads chopped off? Will chopping heads off make ponies more likely to suffer from burn as they will be brushing against the stems which I presume will be a bit sappy after being cut?

Option 3 - Strim and then spray again with Depitox. Advantage - should be the most effective however I have doubts after first attempt (although did not Strim before first attempt so this could make a difference) Disadvantage - most labour intensive. If it doesn't work I will have wasted more weedkiller.

Discuss!! :D
Click to expand...


You sound like meeeee! I'm in a right pickle! And also Ragwort, lol driving me nutty too. :o
 
We seem to have them worse than ever this year - and looking at other paddocks around us aren't the only ones! We've took the ride on mower in to each paddock before moving the horses in there and topped all the buttercup heads off. Will try and kill them off next year before they get to this stage. The fields had been sprayed off with Grazon but that seems to do naf all to the buttercups.
 
How about Lime, thinks its that spelling rather than lyme... ??
A few people have mentioned it as it drys out the soil...I think... And due to all the wet weather we have the buttercups thrive on the soggy warmness of this and last summer (I think....)

We have topped the field before, and to be honest yes e yellow flowers have gone, but all the creeping leaves are there and still latching themselves on to the ground and covering the grass and soil.

So I'm going to try lime and see how it goes - think its the stuff that we used to put on the stable floors years ago to dry them out... Haha I love pretending to be a farmer ;)
 
Mine has been limed twice in the 15 years I have been there, once a couple of years ago, and I still have plenty of buttercups and always have had. Do a soil Ph test (you can get them from garden centres) to see whather your soil needs it befire you possibly waste your money.
 
Or if you are anywhere near central England, I know a specialist who tests your soil and works out how much lime per acre you need before you contract him to supply and spread. Yes, he has told people they didn't need any :) Message me if you want his contact details, he doesn't have a website.
 
Option 3 but make sure you remove the strimmed plants otherwise seeds will remain behind, then after further spraying to hopefully kill the roots, reseed, next yar put sheep n as soon as they are start growing.
 
Half of my field too has become fairly buttercup ridden! Was thinking topping so glad to see others have suggested that. How long after topping should you leave it before it can be grazed again?
 
We're on alkaline soil and the buttercup is thriving as never before. We sprayed with Kaskara, and might as well have sprayed plain water, for the total lack of success we've had. Our next plan is to top the buttercup and use our muck sucker to hoover up the cuttings. Maybe that will prevent additional seeding of the weed. Seeing as it's the stolons that make the buttercup creep, I don't think there is anything else we can do this year.
 
Can you get hold of any Headland Polo?
Had a contractor do mine (only 50% of it) 3 weeks ago & all those paddocks have no buttercups, mares tails, plantains etc now :cool: the others in use are too yewllow tho :o
I was able to share contractor with 5 others so this brought price right down, even tho most were small acreages (one of mine done is only 0.78 acre tho the others are larger)
 
I think I've decided I'm just going to strim them, I don't think it's going to achieve anything apart from making me happy seeing them all decappitated mwahahah! Hopefully it will give the ponies a bit of enjoyment too if they like eating them once they've wilted (somebody please correct me if this isn't a good idea)

What will be will be and next year I will be able to deal with them as soon the they start to grow now that I'm armed with chemicals and electric fencing :D
 
Starting to doubt whether strimming is the right thing to do...arghhh!!! Surely if I strim then the left over 'open' stems will be full of sap which the ponies will then be constantly touching. The buttercups aren't causing them any problems at the moment and I don't want to create a problem while trying to solve one if that makes sense?

Maybe I should just leave them be? How long do they last for usually?
 
If you are willing ot go through all the work of strimming why not use a flame gun - it will kill seeds too.

I agree with regard to contractor doing the spraying. I learned when I was in Scotland that the herbicide which worked well on docks and thistles was no good for buttercup We have also found that spraying twice in Spring and Autumn makes a real difference.
 
I've never heard of using a flame gun before! Sadly I don't own one, I see you can buy them on ebay relatively cheaply but not sure how effective they would be?
 
I use relay p but early, end of April before flowers, does a fantastic job, the areas I've sprayed are buttercup free, however me and my little nap sack missed a fair bit - you can actually see where i've gone off my line and missed chunks.
 
Mine are awful this year , I have not sprayed for twenty years but I think I will need to do so .
I am going to try lime as a last ditch attempt.
Normally topping seems to keep them under control but this year is awful .
I think last years wet summer may be to blame.
 
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