Grassland sprays - Tank mix

I would like to pick the collective minds on here for information.
Bit by bit i am getting on top of the weed burden i inherited on some of the land i farm. Usually i have Nettles and Thistles to deal with, OR Rushes. My go to products are Thistlex, and for the rushes i have been knocking them back a bit with cheap old MCPA with an adjuvant.
However, i am wanting to tackle a couple of fields that have Nettles, Thistles, Docks and Rushes all together, and due to timing pressures on my grazing rotation whilst the mowing ground is shut off, i am hoping to tackle all of these weeds in a single hit and with an effective kill?
What products would you recommend?
MCPA + Dockstar + Thislex?
Are they fine been placed together as a single tank mix?
Is there a better option than just MCPA for the fields that only have a Rush problem?
 

milkloss

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
I would guess the rushes will need to be sprayed a few times so I’d just use mcpa and it will get the rest of the rubbish eventually anyhow.

I wouldn’t go buying doxstar ££££! Mix some cheapy starane/hatchet/toska etc (fluroxypyr for docks and nettles) with the thistlex, I do this regularly. It has been said on here that thistlex is better on nettles than most other products anyway.

Never mixed any with mcpa myself so can’t help there.
 
I would guess the rushes will need to be sprayed a few times so I’d just use mcpa and it will get the rest of the rubbish eventually anyhow.

I wouldn’t go buying doxstar ££££! Mix some cheapy starane/hatchet/toska etc (fluroxypyr for docks and nettles) with the thistlex, I do this regularly. It has been said on here that thistlex is better on nettles than most other products anyway.

Never mixed any with mcpa myself so can’t help there.
Lovely, thank you for your help.
I am very keen to try to hit all weeds in one go if I can at all, due to a combination of poor grass growth this spring, and fewer larger grazing fields so I struggle taking any more than one at a time out of commission.
Luckily for me, as I took on land wanting improving, my landlord has agreed to reimburse a good lump of my costs from this campaign, and so I don't mind the expense of products such as Dockstar if it is effective.
Does this steer your advice?
 
Last edited:

milkloss

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Lovely, thank you for your help.
I am very keen to try to hit all weeds in one go if I can at all, due to a combination of poor grass growth this spring, and fewer larger grazing fields so I struggle taking any more than one at a time out of commission.
Luckily for me, as I took on land wanting improving, my landlord has agreed to reimburse a good lump of my costs from this campaign, and so I don't mind the expense of products such as Dockstar if it is effective.
Does this steer your advice?

You’re talking three main chems that are in doxstar, pastor, thistlex.
Fluroxypyr, clopyralid and triclopyr.

Triclopyr does mainly the woody type stuff esp thistles and brambles etc
Fluroxypyr does leafy like nettles, docks, cleaver etc
Clopyralid.....who knows but it kills stuff!

Thistlex has the strongest conc of triclopyr and clopyralid
Doxstar is fluroxypyr and triclopyr
Pastor is all three in a weak mix.

Cheapest way to go is thistlex with some cheap fluroxypyr as mentioned above.
Best is another all together which is forefront which will kill everything the above are supposed to do absolutely stone dead but is for grazing ground only and you’ll need to sign a declaration saying so.

I would point you to this :
http://uk.dowagro.com/faqs/can-grassland-products-be-tank-mixed-with-mcpa-or-24-d/

Which says no mixing with mcpa because the quick top kill prevents the other chems from working.

Personally I’d use mcpa and 24d mix a few times and it’ll get everything pretty much. What it doesn’t kill I’d come back with forefront and nuke it.
 

Monty

Member
Think you're a bit early in the season targeting the thistles before they have all shown themselves. If you want a cheap effective mix 1/2 rate of fluroxypyr (we use hurler) £6/acre for the docs and any dandelions plus mix in some MCPA or 24D or both to take out all the other weeds between 1/2 rate and max rate (£3.65- £7.30/acre) depending how bad the field is. This will take out buttercups too which many seem to overlook and I think are the biggest menace of all weeds. I think pretty much any selective herbicide will kill docs, nettles and thistles but some are better than others. We tend to use the above mix in spring to target docs, dandelions, chickweed and buttercups then use thislex later in the summer/autumn for the thistles and nettles in grazing fields sometimes mixed with 24D for buttercups
 

Monty

Member
As a general rule of thumb if you're mixing 2 different sprays together go with 1/2 max rate of each whatever it reads on the label to keep costs down and not to stunt grass too much. Fluroxpyr seems to work just as well at 1/2 max rate as full rate if not better. I have a hunch that a lower dose kills them off slower and allows it to get into the roots.
 
No amount of fluroxypyr or Dow product will hurt rushes. Do them seperately I would suggest.

Do not mix MCPA or similar with pastor etc its pointless.

Dont do half rate stuff unless you know whats going in the tank.

Pivotal is a big bottle alternative for doxstar. Prevail is a big bottle alternative to thistleX. Put them together and you have pastor.

Thrust is 2,4D and dicamba but its a 5L can and quite pricey for what it is.

Fluroxypyr, 2,4D and MCPA are so dirt cheap it makes no sense to cut the rates. Its the triclopyr and clopyralid which are expensive.

A good dock mix is half rate pivotal and full rate hatchet. This is giving you stiff rates of flurox.

Conversely to skew the mix more toward thistles use prevail and add a bit of flurox for any docks.

Cimarron is unfortunately gone.
 
Why can I buy Pivotal and Prevail? Can't seem to find any sign of it on the internet.

They are products that were available through other distributors. Pastor and ThistleX will be available from places like MVF etc. A local distributor might be able to offer similar products as pivotal and prevail, I am not sure if they are still on the market or have been withdrawn.
 

6910 Buzz

Member
No amount of fluroxypyr or Dow product will hurt rushes. Do them seperately I would suggest.

Do not mix MCPA or similar with pastor etc its pointless.

Dont do half rate stuff unless you know whats going in the tank.

Pivotal is a big bottle alternative for doxstar. Prevail is a big bottle alternative to thistleX. Put them together and you have pastor.

Thrust is 2,4D and dicamba but its a 5L can and quite pricey for what it is.

Fluroxypyr, 2,4D and MCPA are so dirt cheap it makes no sense to cut the rates. Its the triclopyr and clopyralid which are expensive.

A good dock mix is half rate pivotal and full rate hatchet. This is giving you stiff rates of flurox.

Conversely to skew the mix more toward thistles use prevail and add a bit of flurox for any docks.

Cimarron is unfortunately gone.
Where can u buy pivotal and prevail online?
 

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