ragwort!!

[crazycoloured]

Iv recently taken on another field that hasn't been grazed for the summer.it was full of ragwort and the people topped the field without removing the ragwort from the field..iv removed the plants but there are quite a lot of stalks from where the ragworts been cut are they poisonous?? or is it just the plant when its in flower?? the field is about 2 acres and quite a lot of ragwort there..

 

[Evie91]

The dead/dried plant is poisonous too. It all needs to be removed.

 

[Shady]

yes, yes, they are EVIL! dig them all up, roots and all.

 

[blowsbubbles]

Don't dig up, any roots you leave will grow back and you'll have twice the problem!
Kill the plant, if you don't want to use a weedkiller salt does the job!

 

[PeterNatt]

The tiniest of Ragwort roots will regenerate to form a new plant.
The best way to get rid of it is to have your entire field sprayed with a Ragwort specific spray.
It may be necessary to spray again 4 weeks later to kill off any surviving plants.
Then remove all the dead plants either by hand or with a cut and collector and burn them all. Remove the plants in such a way that you do not drop any seeds on the ground.
You may have to repeat every year for a number of years as there will probably be a lot of ragwort seeds buried within the ground which will germinate. This is the problem with people allowing Ragwort to grow as the seeds then contaminate the soil. Each plant can produce about 100,000 seeds.

 

[L&M]

I had 5 acres of the bl**dy stuff where we lived in surrey - we were near the M25 and the seedlings would blow over so an ongoing battle.

We had it professionally sprayed every other year, and then on the alternate years used a product called Barrier H to spot spray, which was very effective. Digging/pulling did nothing other than give me a bad back!!

I have no idea it the stalks are poisonous but if there is plenty of grass as a distraction, it is unusual for a horse to eat it whether in flower or not, but depends on whether or not you are prepared to take the risk.

Personally I would get professional advice…

Good luck!

 

[crazycoloured]

looks like im in for a few days ragwort pulling..the little stubs left are easy enough to pull out of the ground theres just so much of it.il do it patch by patch and hopefully bit by bit get rid of the awful stuff..

 

[crazycoloured]

I will give the salt a go,cheaper alternative..im trying to do it now the ground is wet makes it easier to pull and the little stubs come out easier,

 

[trottingon]

Hi, what's the process with salt please? I've not heard of that one before! Thanks x

 

[Shady]

Don't dig up, any roots you leave will grow back and you'll have twice the problem!
Kill the plant, if you don't want to use a weedkiller salt does the job!

they are even worse than i thought! thanks for that, will now weedkiller them.
nobody tries to get rid of them around me and they go in the hay , i 've had to buy further away now

 

[Dry Rot]

If there is that much of it, the best plan is to spray spring and autumn and graze with sheep until it is under control.

It has taken me 30 years to all but eliminate ragwort from my farm (25 acres) and I stupidly though the BHS would help bring pressure on a neighbour who just plays with the problem each year. Thinking the BHS would be of some use was a big mistake. I've cancelled my Gold membership. Utterly disgusted.

 

[Mike007]

Sprays are not as effective on mature healthy plants ,as on regrowth after pulling .Therefore a combination of pulling and spraying is the most effective. Ragwort also has difficulty in establishing itself in a healthy grass sward so your grassland management is also crucial.

 

[popsdosh]

Sprays are not as effective on mature healthy plants ,as on regrowth after pulling .Therefore a combination of pulling and spraying is the most effective. Ragwort also has difficulty in establishing itself in a healthy grass sward so your grassland management is also crucial.

Depends what spray you use and all of them work better if sprayed during the Autumn. Certainly dont spray at the moment the plant needs to growing to translocate the chemical to the roots.

Ditto grassland management! Having a thick dense sward will stop most ragwort establishing itself!
As a farmer I am now going to say something that may be controversial! One of the biggest reasons for the explosion of Ragwort in recent years is down to horses .Most paddocks are overgrazed allowing ragwort to establish itself. You will very rarely see it in well managed grass grazed by farm animals even if close to road verges etc that are covered in it.

 

[Abby-Lou]

Sheep all the way !

 

[Highlands]

Pour dishwasher salt over stumps and it will dissolve the plant

 

[Dry Rot]

Depends what spray you use and all of them work better if sprayed during the Autumn. Certainly dont spray at the moment the plant needs to growing to translocate the chemical to the roots.

Ditto grassland management! Having a thick dense sward will stop most ragwort establishing itself!
As a farmer I am now going to say something that may be controversial! One of the biggest reasons for the explosion of Ragwort in recent years is down to horses .Most paddocks are overgrazed allowing ragwort to establish itself. You will very rarely see it in well managed grass grazed by farm animals even if close to road verges etc that are covered in it.

I agree about the horses. Ragwort needs a good seed bed and light. So rabbits and moles encourage the spread, as does horses cutting up the turf with their hooves.

Now I have ragwort under control, I drive around several times a year with the knapsack sprayer on the back of he quad and give them a squirt whenever I see them. If any escape that, it is easy enough to spot the yellow flowers later in the year and pull individual plants.

But to deal with a serious infestation, I really think the only way is to get it professionally sprayed twice a year (as above) when the plants are at the floret stage (which some of them will be if the infestation is serious). Just keep hammering them until they've gone.

 

[popsdosh]

Pour dishwasher salt over stumps and it will dissolve the plant

It will also leave you a bare patch that no grass will grow into much better to use herbicides and then get your grass right.