Reseed, what to do ?

[hilux]

Last year, we reseeded a field of permanent pasture with a clover and Italian mix. This year it was full of thistle and sprayed it off 2 weeks ago with glyphosate. Should I sow a clover mix long term or 4 year ley without clover just in case more thistles reappear ?

 

[deleted user 837354]

Last year, we reseeded a field of permanent pasture with a clover and Italian mix. This year it was full of thistle and sprayed it off 2 weeks ago with glyphosate. Should I sow a clover mix long term or 4 year ley without clover just in case more thistles reappear ?

What sort of thistles? Can you take a picture of them before they are too far gone??

You can control weeds in clover leys, but it is a bit more expensive (not mentally so) and a little more hit and miss.

White clover is it? Spruce (2,4DB) and triad. The spruce will screw up thistles long enough for the grass and clover to get away.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Clover dont add a lot of cost so worth a gamble , if not you can always stich some in later

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Might not fit with your plans but I've started putting a green crop in between grasses. It gives me 2 chances to burn them little bloody thistles off before putting a clover rich ley in.
As @deleted user 837354 says though, 2-4D makes a passable job without killing all the clover off. ?

 

[milkloss]

Why not spray of the current weeds and leave the irg... should get another year out of it no?

Its easy to sow grass but it's a pain (And expensive with good seed) when it goes wrong.... pests, weather etc.

 

[milkloss]

What sort of thistles? Can you take a picture of them before they are too far gone??

You can control weeds in clover leys, but it is a bit more expensive (not mentally so) and a little more hit and miss.

White clover is it? Spruce (2,4DB) and triad. The spruce will screw up thistles long enough for the grass and clover to get away.

why add the triad?

 

[Bury the Trash]

Do a False seedbed at least, thats if you can spare the loss of a bit of grazing time.

 

[hilux]

Why not spray of the current weeds and leave the irg... should get another year out of it no?

Its easy to sow grass but it's a pain (And expensive with good seed) when it goes wrong.... pests, weather etc.

Too late already sprayed off.

 

[deleted user 837354]

why add the triad?

Triad does chickweed, not much else. If there is only thistles in the resultant ley, I would leave the triad out. I should probably have explained that at the start.

 

[neilo]

Last year, we reseeded a field of permanent pasture with a clover and Italian mix. This year it was full of thistle and sprayed it off 2 weeks ago with glyphosate. Should I sow a clover mix long term or 4 year ley without clover just in case more thistles reappear ?

If you direct drill it, most of the existing clover will grow back from the glyphosate. Cultivation will kill it of course.

If you can use it, a brassica crop would allow you to take any thistle seedlings out relatively cheaply with generic clorpyralid, then reseed later/next Spring.
Failing that, Spruce/Clovermaster will take seedling thistles out of a clover ley reliably.

 

[Werzle]

Last year, we reseeded a field of permanent pasture with a clover and Italian mix. This year it was full of thistle and sprayed it off 2 weeks ago with glyphosate. Should I sow a clover mix long term or 4 year ley without clover just in case more thistles reappear ?

Why didnt you just spray the thistles out with thistlex? Some clover would have survived and you would of killed the thistles at the roots

 

[upnortheast]

If the thistles are a major issue then forget the clover, get on top of the thistles, may take 2 years, then harrow in some clover seed.

 

[hilux]

Why didnt you just spray the thistles out with thistlex? Some clover would have survived and you would of killed the thistles at the roots

Because it was overgrazed and hadn't survived the winter very well. We always struggle to get more than 18 months out of Italian ryegrass at the best of times. The clover included in the ley was not designed to last more than that year.

 

[hilux]

@deleted user 837354

 

[Derrick Hughes]

@deleted user 837354

Two options imo . Top it and wait till Autumn. No way can you direct drill grass, you could plough it . Or perhaps could top it run a grass rake over it and drill Stubble turnips

 

[Derrick Hughes]

But to be honest the horse as well and truly bolted .if only you would have put Thistle X on the babies Thistles it would be a nice green field now [emoji25]

 

[aledjones3130]

Flail it down,drill stubble turnips with simtec atchinson

 

[hilux]

But to be honest the horse as well and truly bolted .if only you would have put Thistle X on the babies Thistles it would be a nice green field now [emoji25]

Of weed grasses! As I have already said there was no IRG or hardly any left in the sward. The thistles in the picture are dead , can't plough only rotavate. Would the seed in those pods germinate?

 

[milkloss]

Any reason the irg doesn't last?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Yes . But we can all be wise after I suppose the ideal would have burnt it in May when everything was young and fresh. Yiu could have drilled grass then . Turnips is your best option now .