Salt on ragwort

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Cobbysmum

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Has anyone used this with success? After years of pulling and spraying, a local farmer has told me he eradicated his ragwort by putting a teaspoon of salt in the middle of the rosette. Sounds too simple to be true? Have tried it in a few rosettes tonight, will see what happens
 
i tried a pile of salt on the left-over stump after i'd cut the rosette or plant off at ground level... and they all grew back.
will be interested to hear if it works the way your farmer did it, might try a few here.
 
I have done this after digging up ragwort and it does work. Put salt in the hole and if you can a bit of soil on top.
 
I use spead salt on weeds and pour boiling hot water on them, they turn brown and shrivel away after a week or so.
Havent tried it on ragwort through...
 
Interesting isn't it Esther, your article recommends fertilising the fields to produce a dense sward. In the UK we are more likely to be trying to avoid a dense sward of fertilised grass because of the problems of obesity and laminitis. So it's a bit of a damned if we do and damned if we don't situation. Is that less of an issue in Holland?
My field hasn't been fertilised for at least 10 years and my horses still get fat on it.
 
FionaM12 said:
But might that just seem to work because actually you'd already dug all the roots out? :confused:
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Yes but its hard to get all the roots out most of the time. So a sprinkle of salt in the hole does seem to help.

When I got my field it was full of ragwort and drove me mad digging it. But it has become just the odd bit now. I try to dig it when the grass is shorter and its easier to see. I did them when they are small and just take my rag fork with me on a stroll with the dog and a carrier bag so its not such a chore. When it was bad I did pull it too on a wet day so the roots came up easier. I burn it once I have it out.

Good luck though will try anything to get rid of this horrid weed.
 
Tinypony said:
Interesting isn't it Esther, your article recommends fertilising the fields to produce a dense sward. In the UK we are more likely to be trying to avoid a dense sward of fertilised grass because of the problems of obesity and laminitis. So it's a bit of a damned if we do and damned if we don't situation. Is that less of an issue in Holland?
My field hasn't been fertilised for at least 10 years and my horses still get fat on it.
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You are completely right I dont fertilise fields. We had a bad experience. Horse was seriously ill after being out on a field that had previously been fertilised. The vet couldnt work out what was wrong and it turned out farmer had nitrogen the grass and it was too rich, horse was really ill. Would rather supplement with hay and bulk than give rich grass. I am puzzled why anyone would want to give a horse rich grass??? They are not dairy herd?? When I took over a field the previous occupant who was new to horses gave me the plan of how she fertilised the fields, weedkilled it, rolled it, harrowed it, topped it etc. Topping I do think helps it grow nicely enough!The local farmer was making fortune out of her!!
 
Tinypony said:
Interesting isn't it Esther, your article recommends fertilising the fields to produce a dense sward. In the UK we are more likely to be trying to avoid a dense sward of fertilised grass because of the problems of obesity and laminitis. So it's a bit of a damned if we do and damned if we don't situation. Is that less of an issue in Holland?
My field hasn't been fertilised for at least 10 years and my horses still get fat on it.
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Maybe yoy know the website of Kathy Watts, safer grass http://www.safergrass.org
There is also an article about managing the field, http://www.safergrass.org/pdf/Pasture_Management.pdf
Also with obes horses it is very important ta manage the field well.

This is a book in PDF format about pasture management for horses to reduce the risks for laminitis http://www.safergrass.org/pdf/VCNApreprint.pdf
 
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It makes sense that the salt would work....OH farms right on the beach and there is no ragwort on his fields or any of the surrounding farms.
 
amage said:
It makes sense that the salt would work....OH farms right on the beach and there is no ragwort on his fields or any of the surrounding farms.
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It was an ancient old horse person that told me about salt and I did think rather than chemicals etc at least if I put salt down it was going to be harmless if old plod came across it in the soil. Was willing to give it a go and it does work. Just a cheapo salt from supermarket as you can carry it with you as you go round. It did take me 2-3 years to get the ragwort virtually gone. Sad to see horses grazing in yellow fields when it is so easy to pull up on a wet day!
 
Tinypony said:
Interesting isn't it Esther, your article recommends fertilising the fields to produce a dense sward. In the UK we are more likely to be trying to avoid a dense sward of fertilised grass because of the problems of obesity and laminitis. So it's a bit of a damned if we do and damned if we don't situation. Is that less of an issue in Holland?
My field hasn't been fertilised for at least 10 years and my horses still get fat on it.
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Exactly this^^^^^^^!
 
Tinseltoes said:
This is what I was told to do: Dig the ragwort with roots out of the ground then put salt in the holes.
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Don't do that, is is bad for the pasture, ragwort is also comfortable with salt, look at this http://www.irishwildflowers.ie/pages/741a.html they like also salt. If you want rid of ragwort in the pasture there are much better ways to do that.

Ragwort bullies itself away if you do nothing, I would also remove it in a small pasture but this is an very interesting study about interaction in the soil http://edepot.wur.nl/167548 It is a very complete promotion study by Tess van de Voorde Wageningen university and very useful.
 
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The three ragwort rosettes I tested it on are all going black, going to set to with the rest at the weekend. Fortunately not got too many plants this year as we sprayed the biggest field last year.
 
EstherHegt said:
Maybe yoy know the website of Kathy Watts, safer grass http://www.safergrass.org
There is also an article about managing the field, http://www.safergrass.org/pdf/Pasture_Management.pdf
Also with obes horses it is very important ta manage the field well.

This is a book in PDF format about pasture management for horses to reduce the risks for laminitis http://www.safergrass.org/pdf/VCNApreprint.pdf
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links Esther, I'm quite happy with how I manage my fields, my horses' bare hooves and touch wood, avoid obesity and lammi.
 
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