Argh! Thistles!

[cc-rider]

How do I get rid of them? I've tried digging them out, but the next year, I've got 100's more. I'm talking patches that are 100 square foot!!

I even tore up the yard, hauled in dirt and leveled it...and the only thing growing is thistles! WTH???

I sprayed with Roundup and that didn't do anything. It was a week ago and I got a few yellowed leaves, but they are still growing.

Any ideas???

[oneokie]

Find a chemical that has a residual action.

Spray them with roundup again, the whole plant.

[Wolf mom]

I love thistles! We have purple ones and white here. I save the seeds & scatter them around the fences.

Burn the plants before they seed.

[PNP Katahdins]

If your area has thistles similar to Wisconsin, here is a good reference: http://clean-water.uwex.edu/pubs/pdf...stureweeds.pdf The whole book is available online which you could print out, or you can buy a copy.

We had always called our fine crops of thistles "Canadas" but using this reference while talking to one of the authors on the phone, I was able to correctly ID them as "Plumeless" instead. Unfortunately we haven't gotten rid of them yet, though.

Weeds always seem to love bare ground. Good luck, you'll need it.

Peg

[All country]

I can certainly sympathize.

Three years ago we spotted our first Canadian thistle.

I immediately pulled it and burned it off.

The next year, we found hundreds of them in out strawberry bed. A friend of our is a horticulturist, he told us the only way to get rid of them is round up.

I didn't want to lose our entire strawberry bed, so I spent days hand brushing roundup onto each thistle. Seemed to work, it looked like they had all died off and we were able to harvest strawberries from our patch.

They're back thicker than ever this year. They have almost choked out the strawberry bed and spread to the yard around it. We normally harvest 300+ qt. from this patch. This year we will be lucky to get even 10 qt.

My friend tells me the only thing I can do to save any of my strawberry plants is to dig each plant up, being extremely careful to leave no thistle on it and spray the entire area with roundup, extending a good 6 feet or so beyond where we spot the most remotes ones. Then to fertilize the area and replant next spring.

[Jalopy]

You can use 2-4-D and spray the entire patch or each individual plant. It is not a restricted herbicide. When you mix the spray add a small amount of dishwashing liquid to act as a surfactant. It helps keep the 2-4-D from volatizing. Even then do not spray on a hot humid day as it can drift to flowers and gardens. Good luck!

[Ken Scharabok]

Try spraying with straight vinegar. Do a Google search on vinegar thistles. It can be used as a weed killer.

[cc-rider]

Oh my! I just read some of the articles on using vinegar. Guess what I'm buying at the store after work?!?!?

Thanks, everyone! I'll let you know how it works.

[RosewoodfarmVA]

Thankfully thistles usually thrive on good soil, so once you eradicate them you should have no trouble establishing a grass sod. Don't till though! Or you'll pull up fresh thistle seeds...

[cc-rider]

I had a decent crop of thistles, but didn't worry too much because I knew that I'd be hauling in dirt and scraping and leveling, etc. Good grief, you should see the thistles now! You'd think I was cultivating them! I hope you are right.

It's raining now...again...but when it dries out, it's VINEGAR time!

[Stephen in SOKY]

Crossbow, active ingredient Triclopyr + 2,4-D Ester, is the most effective non restricted herbicide I've used to eradicate them. There may be better ones, but Crossbow is extremely effective. It will take diligence for 3 consecutive years, and your neighbors will have to be just as diligent to bring them under control. If control isn't a community effort, then you'll have them forever.

[MaineFarmMom]

We're working on raising the amount of calcium and phosphorous in our soil. I haven't seen a thistle or a burdock seedling for the first time in 13 years.

[Elffriend]

I tried vinegar. The day after using it there were nice little brown circles with a dead looking thistle in the middle.

The following week the thistles were sprouting back up right in the middle of those circles.

[NickieL]

I was just looking up creeping thistle myself!!! i found ONE last year, now they have taken over the garden beds....I keep fighting....but sheesh!!! I turn around and there is more, always.

[Sammy]

Trimec Classic works well here.

[Windy in Kansas]

For starters you should probably identify the variety of thistle you are needing to control. Some are biennial which means they are best controlled as rosettes in the fall.

Some can be controlled rather easily by cutting them off a couple of inches below soil level, others apparently not so hence the need for identification.

[luv2farm]

Originally Posted by Windy in Kansas

For starters you should probably identify the variety of thistle you are needing to control. Some are biennial which means they are best controlled as rosettes in the fall.

Some can be controlled rather easily by cutting them off a couple of inches below soil level, others apparently not so hence the need for identification.

This is what we do........a 2 prong plan of attack

1st....chop the thing off at or slightly below the ground
2nd....spray exposed root end with 2-4-d

This approach has keep them managable.......wish the neighbors would do it. We'd have less trouble with 'em (the thistles...not the neighbors )

[cc-rider]

I think I ran a rototiller over a patch once to chop them up (to theoretically kill them), and instead, it spread them even further. I'll bet each of those pieces rooted elsewhere. Duh.

A few years ago, when they were more manageable, I had a goal of digging up 100 thistle roots every single day. And it STILL got ahead of me!

[LisaInN.Idaho]

I just hit mine with roundup for the second time yesterday. They just seem to LOVE disturbed ground.

[NickieL]

I don't use chemicals at all so I guess I'll jsut stay busy pulling them LOL