Bracken Spraying

[N1ck]

I have been asked to spray a few areas of bracken with Asulox but don't fancy doing it with a knapsack. I have looked into hiring a quad sprayer but the problem might be that the booms are set quite low for spraying paddocks etc and might not cope in tall bracken.

 

Has anyone out there got a good set up for this sort of work? I have suggested bruising or other mechanical methods but the estate want it sprayed.

 

How about a quad towing a roller/weed wiper? Anyone had success with this approach.

 

Cheers

[IRE David H]

see this is why a tractor is useful you can put a sprayer behind thee tractor and simply drive around. the spray would then be high enough and you can bull doze the bracken a bit

[departed]

How big of an area is it?

 

Around here it's pretty rare to be able to access bracken sites with a tractor so our method is to use a quad with a lance and have someone with a knapsack to get any bits the quad can't reach.

 

You need to avoid bruising or cutting any stems when spraying as it affects how the asulox is taken down into the rhizomes, possibly making the chemical ineffective. Maybe the un bruised stems would carry enough chemical down into the rhizomes but why risk it considering the cost of asulox and labour!

 

Like you said, bruising is an effective method but takes a few years to eradicate bracken, and shouldn't be used on the same year as spraying.

 

Perhaps if you sprayed using a quad and boom the lower fronds would get a sufficient dose of chemical to work but that's not something I've tried.

 

Cheers.

[Goaty]

I've just done some bruising with a compact tractor.

One site is fine and was mulched properly. The other was not done so well. That site cost me a refill of trans fluid as it took the pipe out. It's an unpredictable job as you can't see what's under your nose in a sea of dense green.

 

However if you spray late August with round up. The sap is flowing down to rhizomes and it hurts it bad apparently, I intend to do it on the above site. Their will be enough regrowth then.

 

To mention perhaps the obvious, soon bracken will be suffocating the trees if any planted.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Arbtalk

[departed]

Glyphosate is good stuff, just remember that it kills everything whereas asulox only targets bracken (other species are affected if the dose is high enough though).

Even plants growing beneath dense bracken will be affected by roundup.

[N1ck]

How big of an area is it?

 

Around here it's pretty rare to be able to access bracken sites with a tractor so our method is to use a quad with a lance and have someone with a knapsack to get any bits the quad can't reach.

 

You need to avoid bruising or cutting any stems when spraying as it affects how the asulox is taken down into the rhizomes, possibly making the chemical ineffective. Maybe the un bruised stems would carry enough chemical down into the rhizomes but why risk it considering the cost of asulox and labour!

 

Like you said, bruising is an effective method but takes a few years to eradicate bracken, and shouldn't be used on the same year as spraying.

 

Perhaps if you sprayed using a quad and boom the lower fronds would get a sufficient dose of chemical to work but that's not something I've tried.

 

Cheers.

 

I guess this means the roller/weed wiper option with Asulox is not effective as it would bruise the fronds?

[departed]

I would assume it wouldn't work, if it did work it wouldn't be as effective as a foliar spray.It's not a method I've considered using.

If it's a large flat area use a tractor, if it's rough and uneven use a knapsack.

You don't say how big the job is but you can cover a large area using a knapsack. You only need to wet the fronds so you can use the wind to your advantage too.

Cheers.

[Commando]

Quad with boomless sprayer will do the job and god as slow as you can drive. If you are on slopey ground don't overfill the tank!

 

Is Asulox available again?

[N1ck]

Quad with boomless sprayer will do the job and god as slow as you can drive. If you are on slopey ground don't overfill the tank!

 

Is Asulox available again?

 

Aparently Azulox can be purchased under an emergency approval for use up to the end of October.

 

Bracken Control Group - Asulam

[Commando]

I had good success with Roundup Nick (I would guess significantly cheaper) and because the bracken sits so high off the ground very little damage to grass.

 

Boom-less sprayer works well and if the bracken is really high you can switch to the lance (most sprayers have one also).