gardening help

[choppers]

Hi folks, one of many projects was to put in a nice garden for my wife over the fall/spring. Well I did it and now I have these lovely clovers that seem to take over everything. They seed and spread like wildfire.



I don't want to kill all my plants to eleminate them so I'm looking for something that will stop them but not harm my other plants and veggies. Has anyone encountered these clovers before? If so what did you use to stop them?

Thanks in advance for your help, chops
ps. I was hoping to have this garden to point where I would be fishing more than gardening. Wishfull thinking I guess

[Lou]

That would be Oxalis. Pull by hand or hoe.
Treat with Preen to prevent reseeding.
Preen prevents seeds from developing, past
the first sproot stage.

[zipper]

Howdy. It's not a clover. It's an oxalis and very difficult to nearly impossible to get rid of. The seed can lay dormant for years and then grow when exposed to light and moisture. The best bet is to pull them before they flower and go to seed. High doses of Amonium nitrate sprayed on the foliage will burn them to the ground but not kill the seed or rhizomes. (yes, they spread by underground stems as well). Round up will kill the plant but not the seed - preen will keep the seed from growing (along with all your garden seed - I wouldn't use this in a vegie garden) I wish I had an easy answer but I don't know of any. It will eventually cover all the available space if left to it's own devices... dastardley thing! Good luck. zip

[Chrome Bumper]

Mulch, like bark dust, makes it easy to hoe them up.

[choppers]

Oh I was afraid of that. I'll hit it with amonium then hoe them up. Boy are they nasty growers.

Thanks for everyone help, chops

[rwr]

Oxalis is tough. One thing I tried and worked for awhile, was to pour boiling water on them. For me, it did the trick, however I don't know if it killed all of the seeds. I also remove them using a forked spade by loosening the soil around them and pulling the roots by hand. They can have very deep roots that spread and it is hard to get them all. Bark dust mulch also makes it easier to pull the roots. It can be labor intensive but is a "cleaner" solution than products such as Preen.

[wilsonriverfisher]

To bad you regular old public folks cannot get Quicksilver t&o Clover killer that stuff really works well. Most herbicides have a tough time sticking on oxalis because the leaf tension is very tight and its difficult to get herbicides to stick to them they just bead up and roll off. DO NOT HAND PULL IT brush your hand on it and watch the seeds pop off allover and make matters much much worse. If I was you I would spray any product with 24d aka crossbow and monitor it and most likely spray again within a week. Using a little bit of liquid dish soap will help adhere to the blades. Make sure to spray it and spray it again after its on the way out. If you do not have alot of other delicate plants around and its not on a slope heading towards the lawn use caseron its alot more effective then preen. Yeah hoeing them up will make it harder in the long run because of its ability to shoot seed heads off they dont fall I have seen them shoot a good foot and a half. edit: You can make a mix of roundup/24d and use that 2x will knock it out....Also I have rarely seen it growing through 2inches of bark

[rwr]

I've noticed that Bittercress, the green, flat leafed little weed with the little white flower, shoots their seeds like you describe. If you don't pull them in time, you have them growing all over the place. I don't remember oxalis spitting seeds but I could be wrong. Two inches of bark will certainly knock both weeds down as will Crossbow (expensive).

[Chrome Bumper]

Use bark, it doesn't leach into our streams.

[Keeper]

Oxalis!! Dig, yank, Round-Up, mulch and it comes up anyway.

I was at Fred Meyer last month and my "weeds" were on sale 2 for $5.00

How many thousands of dollars have I dug up in the last 25 years?

[Chrome Bumper]

Good point, you can only knock it back, no way will it be gone longterm.

[STGRule]

Torch it. Get out the propane torch and have some fun. Won't hurt the watershed, won't hurt the plants you want and won't hurt you when you eat the veggies that grow where you torched.

[wthr4d]

cover your exposed garden area with left over corrugated cardboard. it will get wet and degrade into the soil but keep all your weeds down by blocking out the light. it looks better than newspaper too!

Paul

[MsOutdrs]

Originally Posted by STGRule

Torch it. Get out the propane torch and have some fun. Won't hurt the watershed, won't hurt the plants you want and won't hurt you when you eat the veggies that grow where you torched.

Ruth has got it...I LOVE my flame thrower...sounds like a jet in the backyard. Just be careful during this hot dry time...high fire hazard. Keep a hose handy!!! Flame throwers also kill the dormant seed below the ground...they get fried. So it keeps them at bay for awhile. Flame throwers are fairly cheap and as she said...doesn't send pollutants into our rivers and streams.

[choppers]

We tried the amonia but it didn't burn them. The little buggers got pulled but the seeds made it's way back into the bark. I'm not too happy about the seeds but for now the yard looks nice with out the Oxalis. Burning sounds like my next attempt.

[wthr4d]

Originally Posted by choppers

We tried the amonia but it didn't burn them... Burning sounds like my next attempt.

Did you use household ammonia or farm grade ammonium nitrate in a water solution? there is a BIG difference between the two chemically.

Paul

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by wthr4d

Did you use household ammonia or farm grade ammonium nitrate in a water solution? there is a BIG difference between the two chemically.

Paul

Isn't it tough to get ammonium nitrate if you're a lay person? You know....... BOOM!?

[Chrome Bumper]

Bark dust and grass burn if its dry, be careful if you don't use water from the rivers to irrigate.

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by Chrome Bumper

be careful if you don't use water from the rivers to irrigate.

Huh?

[Chrome Bumper]

Every time I see agreen yard in the Portland area I am reminded they are draining the Trask and Sandy to do that. If you don't irrigate sawdust on the ground burns very easily this time of year, as does grass and brush. Not a good time to be playing with fire in the yard, it is not burning season.

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by Chrome Bumper

Every time I see agreen yard in the Portland area I am reminded they are draining the Trask and Sandy to do that. If you don't irrigate sawdust on the ground burns very easily this time of year, as does grass and brush. Not a good time to be playing with fire in the yard, it is not burning season.

I get it now! Very good advice.

[choppers]

Originally Posted by wthr4d

Did you use household ammonia or farm grade ammonium nitrate in a water solution? there is a BIG difference between the two chemically.

Paul

I used ammonia, didn't pay close attention thinking it was what I had under my sink. Where might a guy find amonium nitrate? Hard ware store?

[wthr4d]

Amonium nitrate (farm grade) is a common fertilizer that can be had at any farm/ranch supply store or large garden supply. It is true you can't buy it in large quantities because it has been used as an explosive component (see oklahoma city bombing) and what you can buy is low grade (farm quality).

[wthr4d]

Look at your local garden supply or farm/ranch supply, seed&feed store. Ammonium nitrate is available OTC but not in high grade or large quantity (unless you want to provide ID and get put on a terrorist watch list) Look on the fertilizer packages for 16-0-0 (see below)

Reading a fertilizer label

All fertilizer labels have three bold numbers. The first number on the label represents nitrogen, the second number represents phosphorus and the third number represents potassium. These numbers represent the three major nutrients your lawn needs to thrive:

• Nitrogen (symbol N) for leaf development and vivid green color
• Phosphorus (symbol P) for root growth and cellular functioning
• Potassium (symbol K), sometimes called potash, for root development, improved winter hardiness and disease resistance

For example, a 100-pound bag marked “15-2-15” contains 15 pounds of nitrogen, 2 pounds of phosphorus and 15 pounds of potassium. The remaining 68 pounds are made up of other nutrients, conditioners and fillers. Their purpose is to help distribute the fertilizer evenly and prevent chemical burn.

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by wthr4d

Look at your local garden supply or farm/ranch supply, seed&feed store. Ammonium nitrate is available OTC but not in high grade or large quantity (unless you want to provide ID and get put on a terrorist watch list) Look on the fertilizer packages for 16-0-0 (see below)

Reading a fertilizer label


All fertilizer labels have three bold numbers. The first number on the label represents nitrogen, the second number represents phosphorus and the third number represents potassium. These numbers represent the three major nutrients your lawn needs to thrive:

• Nitrogen (symbol N) for leaf development and vivid green color
• Phosphorus (symbol P) for root growth and cellular functioning
• Potassium (symbol K), sometimes called potash, for root development, improved winter hardiness and disease resistance

For example, a 100-pound bag marked “15-2-15” contains 15 pounds of nitrogen, 2 pounds of phosphorus and 15 pounds of potassium. The remaining 68 pounds are made up of other nutrients, conditioners and fillers. Their purpose is to help distribute the fertilizer evenly and prevent chemical burn.

16-0-0 is called Sodium Nitrate

34-0-0 is called Ammonium Nitrate

But Hey, what do I know.