Bracken spraying advice needed

[blue beastie]

Have 2 1/2 hectares of bracken to spray and have never done it before, so ANY advice gratefully received!

 

First question though: should I go with the tried and tested knapsack method, or go down the Micron Ulva + CDA road?

 

Which are you using and why?

 

Thanks.

[Gollum]

Mist blower, better coverage.

are you using Asulox.

[PhilBeech]

Mist blower, better coverage.

are you using Asulox.

 

Mist blowers are now good, the results are crap as it atomises the product to much...

[PhilBeech]

Sorry that wasn't very helpful, in my experience most clients demand a guaranteed kill rate these days, the only way to achieve it is with knapsacks.

 

Tried it all and knapsacks were best.

[Matthew Arnold]

Knapsack sprayer with a green angled nozzle on the lance. If using Asulox, the mix is 500ml/10litre of water.

[PhilBeech]

Knapsack sprayer with a green angled nozzle on the lance. If using Asulox, the mix is 500ml/10litre of water.

 

What he said ^^^^ diffuser nozzle isn't it Matt?

[Gollum]

Sorry that wasn't very helpful, in my experience most clients demand a guaranteed kill rate these days, the only way to achieve it is with knapsacks.

 

Tried it all and knapsacks were best.

 

With the coarse leaf of bracken you get a better leaf coverage with the mist without the run off. less rain here in the south east,

we are spraying less each year now as the mist blower works better than the knapsack, perhaps we should go back to the knapsack more work.

 

you wont get the coverage with a knapsack on bracken like this

[Matthew Arnold]

What he said ^^^^ diffuser nozzle isn't it Matt?

 

Ye a wide fan nozzle. We use it as our generic nozzle.

[daveindales]

2.5 ha is a lot to spray with a knapsack if the bracken is 5 or 6 ft high. If it's small thin stuff then you should be ok. What about a tractor mounted sprayer? is it accessable? don't forget that you won't see the results till next year.

 

I spray bracken for about 5 weeks every year, and have done for the last 12 years. most of it is on moorland estates and we do follow-up spraying after the helicopter. I use knapsack with added dye so you dont go round in circles. We also use a wetter for a better kill. Which ever way you do it you will need to spray again in the following years to eventually kill it off. Otherwise you will be back to square one in a few years. I can't overestimate this enough. You may think you will kill off the lot in the first year. But little bits will survive and continue to multiply in the following years. The kill is best in really thick bracken. In thin stuff the kill can be hit and miss.

[blue beastie]

Thanks for all the info so far guys.

 

I'll be using Asulox and Mixture B as recommended by another contractor locally.

 

The site is pretty steep in places, with a couple of rocky outcrops, and plenty of fallen down stonewalls, ditches and old stumps under the leaf litter. I really picked a belter to cut my teeth with huh!?! Don't think it's doable on anything but my own two feet TBH.

 

The bracken is head height for the most part and thick as can be too....

 

You can tell i'm really looking forward to it can't you!?!

 

Any more pros and cons for CDA vs knapsack, i've been looking at the "micron ulva+ bracken pack" (google and you'll see) - has anyone used it?

 

Ta