Puncture Vine?

[illflem]

Anyone have this weed also known as Goat's Head and know how to get rid of it? I haven't found a herbicide that will kill it. It has to be the worst weed on the planet, my dog ran into a patch of it a few weeks ago and I had to carry him out. He had at least 20 stickers in each foot and wouldn't even walk.

 

[Boldt's Wagon]

I finally got rid of it from a yard in Richland, WA by hand pulling. Took 2 years with the old seeds continuing to germinate.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Did you try Round-up?

 

[Champane Flight]

I raked and burnt. You have to get the seeds hot enough to burst. Then spray with Round-up. I did this for two years in a backyard,BEFORE I planted grass.

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95 Dodge 2500 Luverne grill guard,headache rack,running boards and Amzoiled. Soon to be mildly bombed. 84 Dodge d-150, 318 Hooker headers,Edelbrok intake,mallory ignition,Carter Afb,Accel coil,and Custom dual exhaust. Boat,fifthwheel,motorcycles,and shop. 72000 as of 3/1/01,not even broke in yet. Old Dodge 126000 miles and running better than new.

 

[arlan]

I think the trick is go out and cut it down with a hoe or other impliment of destruction and then spray the new growth with roundup. If it rains within a few days spary it again. Roundup is the best I've found.

Good Luck
Arlan

 

[illflem]

The only luck I've had with Roundup is after it's too late and has already gone to seed.
2,4D doesn't phase it.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

2,4,D + 2,4,5 T = Agent Orange #ad


Its the 2,4,5, T that causes cancer. Its banned. 2,4 D I don't like either. Its linked to genetic damage & Non-Hogkins disease. 1 teaspoon will kill ya.

We added 7. 5 quarts to a 600 gallon spray tank when I worked in Lawn Care. #ad




[This message has been edited by HEMI®Dart (edited 04-06-2001). ]

 

[Bill Stockard]

Hey Apple Guy,

2,4,D makes Goat Head grow better just like fertilizer. I've had good luck with RoundUp while it is still growing, but you've got to spray for several seasons to finally get all the seeds that sprout.

I figured you guys are too far north for that stuff--worse than prickly pear or cocklebur!! That's one of those plants put on earth that have no value except to deal us misery. #ad


Bill

 

[Bill Stockard]

Hemi-Dart,

Back in the early 60s we had prickly pear real bad in our pasture. I mixed 1 gallon of 2,4,5,T in 55 gallons of diesel fuel and sprayed the prickly pear with it for several summers until it was all killed out. Killed the prickly pear--never came back--mesquite too. We didn't know much about that stuff back then. I got it on my hands mixing it up and the spray mist got on my while spraying it. I guess that's what wrong with me. #ad


Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Stockard (edited 04-05-2001). ]

 

[Forrest]

Have any of you tried salt? Home Depot has 50lb bags of Solar Salt. About $3 a bag & I spread it with a flat nose shovel. It works excellent for me. #ad
Nada grows where you broadcast it. If possible, put it on before a light rain, so it will disperse & soak in.

I got the idea when we were in Death Valley. There is absolutely no green where there is salt. If you've got a slope, just spread it thicker up top & let the rain run it down the slope. You don't want to put it anywhere it can get to any tree or plant roots. Makes funny looking brown tips. #ad

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Tonite is the first time I have ever heard of prickly pear & Goats head. I guess we don't have it in the Northeast.

Bill,
Thats a neat story. If we only knew how dangerous that stuff was back then. If you did the same thing today, the Dept of Enviormental protection would probably excavate the top 2'-3' feet of soil in the field and barrel it up as hazardous waste #ad


Were you guys able to buy and use Cloridane in the '70's. It was that white powder that had an unmistakeable smell. They banned that too. It used to Sterilize the soil for about 10 years before it degraded. #ad




[This message has been edited by HEMI®Dart (edited 04-05-2001). ]

 

[illflem]

Hemi, feel blessed that you don't have puncture vine, I think it prefers a drier climate than yours. It doesn't grow more than an inch tall, but one plant will spread out to about 10 feet in diameter from a tap root that can be over three feet deep. The seed head/thorn reminds me of those things you see the bad guys throw out of a car to give flats to the pursuing cops. It will give you flat tires hence the name and loves to grow next to roads and parking areas in the most compacted soil you can find.

I just got in on the tail end of DDT before the EPA asked us to turn it in. It was one of the most effective and safe pesticides ever used. Now they are finding that many of the things attributed to it were unfounded. They said they were finding traces of it on the polar icecaps, the part they left out is that the residues were taken from core samples that were over 10,000 years old. Said it made the birds have thin shells, come to find out that reason the birds had thin shells was from researchers disturbing the nesting birds...
Cloridane and Lindane are related tto DDT and are just a few of the pesticides that American companies still manufacture and sell in foreign countries so we can buy back the exported food with residues on it. In the meantime the American farmer has to buy all these newly developed pesticides that cost billions of dollars to develop and register as safe with the EPA. Makes it easy to see why the American farmer will be a thing of the past soon.

As far as I know 2,4,D is still legal. It is the main ingredient in the lawn product called Weed n' Feed and is probably the most common weed spray used on road right of ways.



[This message has been edited by illflem (edited 04-05-2001). ]

 

[yogibear]

Bill, try Grazon (2-4-d/Torridon mixture) with a little Banvil. Can't remember misture, but can find out. It works, but have to stay with it for 2-3 yrs. What gives us troubles here is grassy sandburs, bindweed, and musk thistle.
Larry

 

[Andy Perreault]

Bill Stockard, this is sort of off subject, but do you have fire ants in your area? A few years ago when I was still living in SoCal, fire ants were starting to show up, they had been imported from the south on plant nursery trucks. I don't know if they got rid of them or if they're still around L. A. /Orange County.
Then there's the Africanized bees... Oh, and kudzu, I hear that's a real PITA to erradicate.
Andy

 

[Doc Tinker]

We use left over road salt, at the school district where I work, along the fence lines. It takes a year for anything to grown again where the salt was spread.

Doc

 

[R.E. Miller]

Illfelm,
Try round-up tank mixed with sythe, this is a good combo. Translation: glyphospate + Pelargic acid> fast and efficient. Sythe will rupture the cells of the plant, round will translocate... laters

 

[BFaoro]

Illefem, The plant that you so love is like air around where I live !! #ad
Best thing that we do is before it seeds we take a hoe and cut it out, than put it in a barrel and haul it to your nearest mother in law HAHA No, seriously just haul it to the landfill.
We have the prickley pear cactus here to, but you can take a weed burner and burn off the spines and the cattle will eat it !! Also the gourds here will take over a whole field if you don't stop it ! We let the cattle in and they eat it to the ground, works as a fly spray for the cattle to. The gourds stink to high heaven and when the cattle eat it the oil comes out through their pours and they stink. Keeps the flies off and you from petting the cows !! #ad


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96 2500 4X4, SC, SLT, 12 valve,lost kitty, 5SP 3. 54. Pac Brake with 60 pound valve springs, line-x liner, soon to come: Auto meter ultra lite boost and pyro gauges on A pillar,

 

[Bill Stockard]

Hi Andy,

Yes, we do have fire ants... or maybe it would be better to say they have us. Lots of them!!! Boy, I wish I could still get Chlorodane to use on them!!

We have a pest control company spray our yard every 3 months to control the fire ants. The chemicals they use aren't availabe off the shelf for us to use.

Not only do they sting, build dirt mounds that clog up machinery, and kill wildlife, they are attracted to anything electrical. The HVAC repair men have a continus job replacing the relays in compressor units that get clogged up with the dead ants. Fire ants are like the goat heads--no benefical use than to cause man misery!!

Bill

 

[Ancient Mariner]

If one lives in the boonues and the area isn't too good, I find diesel in a spray can works very well to get rid of most things green.

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99. 5 QC, 4X4, Auto, 3. 54, Forest Green, Rhinoliner, Running Boards, Trailer Tow Pkg with mirrors, VA Box, Aluminum Tool Box

 

[merryman]

I grew up in Arizona where there was lots of Goat head. We mostly went barefoot, even to school, and it was a real nasty experience to be running full speed to get from one spot of shade to another before your feet got too hot and hit a dried up patch of goat head------talk about a flat tire!!!!!!

Vaughn