Wheatgrass herbicide: how to get rid of, the best drugs and weed control methods

Wheatgrass is well known to any gardener. He is ubiquitous, the fight against him is carried out in the beds with vegetables, berries, flower beds. It seems that there is no limit to the viability of the weed, aggressiveness and ability to spread, and only a special herbicide from harmful wheatgrass can stop it. Along with such a cardinal remedy, there are other ways and techniques to get rid of a malicious weed.

What does creeping wheatgrass look like?

The weed belongs to cereals and has a long-term cycle of development. The height of the stems of the plant is from 40 cm to 150 cm. Its leaves are bare, linear, about 30 cm long, up to 1 cm wide. They become narrower (2-8 mm) higher along the stem of the plant.

Rhizomes are flexible, long, creeping, located horizontally in the soil, at a depth of up to 15 cm. Weed flowers are collected in spikelets. Their length is 2 cm, width - 0.7 cm. The spikelet is made up of spikelets, the height of which reaches 30 cm. Flowering can be observed in June-July.

What is the danger of a weed?

All weeds are extremely tenacious, but creeping wheatgrass is one of the first places in terms of malignancy and aggressiveness.

Corded rhizomes are never at rest. Even after a slight damage, the weed buds start to grow. Moving horizontally in the soil, the roots gradually branch, rise above the surface and give rise to a new plant.

In the second half of June, the rhizomes change direction of growth, move vertically down, thicken, form small tubers for wintering.

The danger of a weed lies in the difficulty of dealing with it.The length of the rhizomes can reach hundreds of kilometers in an area of 1 hectare and at the same time have 250 million buds, which are potential wheatgrass plants. On plowing, they lie at a depth of about 12 cm, on dense soil - 5 cm. Their growth strength is very high, the roots can penetrate potatoes, boards and other obstacles.

Control measures

Measures to eradicate the weed should be systemic in nature and represent not separate operations, but a whole range of control methods.

Agrotechnical methods of weed extermination are considered the safest.

Herbicides are used only as a last resort when other methods fail.

The main methods of keeping crops clean from couch grass are:

• tillage;
• suppression by cultivated plants;
• crop rotation;
• mulching;
• use of green manure and other agricultural practices.

Using herbicides

Chemical preparations (herbicides) are able to effectively fight weeds and destroy up to 95% of plants. Before using a pesticide, a preparation is selected taking into account a number of criteria:

• on what principle does the herbicide "work" - selective or continuous;
• method of drug penetration into the plant;
• influence spectrum - universal or anticereal;
• type of protected crop and its response to a chemical.

Electoral

For the destruction of couch grass, graminicides are used - herbicides of selective action on crops of broad-leaved crops. The drug "Quickstep", belonging to this group, is used in the planting of flax, rapeseed, sugar beet.

In the vineyards, the weed is exterminated with selective herbicides - "Naboo", "Fusilade Super". Other cultures use "Zellek", "Targa", "Titus". They are used strictly according to the instructions, taking into account the specific type of processed plants.

Manufacturers of drugs warn that they are used once every 3 years. The effectiveness of such chemicals is about 80% and is inferior to continuous herbicides, since the rhizomes of wheatgrass are not completely destroyed.

Solid action

These herbicides are based on glyphosate. It is effective throughout the entire growing season of the weed. The use of the drug in the fields and gardens is possible 3 weeks before sowing, planting cultivated plants or 2 weeks after harvesting.

The most effective herbicides include:

• Helios is an analogue of Roundup, for greater efficiency, other herbicides based on dicamba are added.
• "Neutrino BT", similar to "Miura" herbicide, has an affordable price.
• "Maitus", used in corn crops.
• "Metrizan" - used for potatoes and soybeans.
• "Basic" - herbicide inhibits the shoots of wheatgrass on corn and other crops.

Organic farming practices

Recently, organic farming techniques have become increasingly popular among gardeners. Thanks to them, the site is cleared of couch grass without chemicals and without disturbing the natural balance.

EM drugs

Unlike aggressive herbicides, EM preparations do not adversely affect the soil. The product contains effective microorganisms (EM) that penetrate the soil and eat unwanted organic elements (weeds). Roots die as a result of the fermentation process caused by EM.Preparations are suitable for tillage affected by creeping wheatgrass:

• Rebirth;
• "Shine";
• "Emix";
• "EM molasses";
• "Baikal EM-1";
• "Tanir forte".

The effectiveness of use is not one hundred percent, as after the herbicide, so the method is used in combination with other methods.

Soil mulching

It is easy to get rid of couch grass rhizomes by mulching the soil. Its layer (hay, grass, sawdust) should be at least 30 cm. Moisture is retained under the mulch, earthworms are activated, soil fertility is improved. The plant tries to get out of the ground, the rhizomes rise higher and are located in the mulch. At this point, pulling it completely out of the ground is not difficult.

Siderates

Sowing and mowing some plants in the flowering phase, they achieve not only the improvement of the soil condition, but also the destruction of weeds, in particular, wheatgrass. Such crops are called green manure.

To achieve the goal, the land is cultivated or dug up on half a bayonet of a shovel, sown with rye or oats. After a month and a half, the plants reach 15-20 cm, they are cut off, and the land is cultivated again. The area is re-sown. After repeating the procedure three times, the malicious weed disappears completely.

Agricultural practices

These methods are most effective for personal subsidiary plots and allow you to get rid of couch grass in small areas.

Techniques require a lot of diligence and patience.

Selecting roots

The method is quite laborious, it requires carefully choosing the roots from the ground, digging with a pitchfork and trying not to leave a single piece of the plant in the soil. It takes a lot of strength, but it is almost impossible to achieve complete purity of the soil from rhizomes.

Fade out

If large areas of the garden are inhabited by creeping couch grass, it is destroyed by blocking the light with a black film. It is spread on the surface of the soil, covered with hay or straw on top and left in this state for the whole summer.

Darkening can be done in a more complicated way:

1. Cover the weeds with sheets of cardboard.
2. Sprinkle a layer of mulch on top.
3. Place fertile soil on it, forming a bed.
4. Strengthen it on the sides with stones.
5. Sow the desired vegetables on the ridge.

Root shredding

The method consists in the fact that the roots of wheatgrass are crushed very strongly with the help of a motor cultivator, after plowing to a depth of no more than 20 cm.

Sleeping buds are stimulated to germinate, give roots, and plants emerge above the surface. In this state, they are easy to pull out of the soil with special tools or by hand.

Folk remedies and recipes

In addition to mechanical folk methods for the destruction of couch grass, there are chemical ones. As preparations for treatment, household substances known to all are used, which, perhaps, are less effective than herbicides, but the harm from them is minimal.

Ethyl alcohol

The method is considered efficient and easy to use. Alcohol is diluted with water ten times and the soil is cultivated between plants. The liquid consumption is 5 liters per 1 weave. According to reviews, the method relieves the site of weeds for 1 year.

Citric acid

Ordinary citric acid (3 tablespoons) is diluted in 1 liter of water and couch grass is treated. The weed dies faster if spraying is carried out in clear sunny weather.

Prevention of the appearance of wheatgrass on the site

In order to prevent wheatgrass from occupying the entire sown area, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures:

• periodic mulching of beds with grass, straw;
• constant weeding;
• crop rotation;
• use of green manure;
• drip irrigation;
• Protection of row spacing with black film.

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