got an 80 acre field with 4 foot high mesquite in it...bought a 200 gallon sprayer and a 28 foot boom sprayer.....need help on what poison to use and what is the dosage...in other words, what to I kill the mesquite with and how much? I am CE, not Agriculture guy...gig em...hell, I cannot even spell mesquite....

[This message has been edited by agneck (edited 8/20/2011 8:14p).]

Your best bet would be Remedy with a little diesel fuel. Not sure about the rate

http://www.dowagro.com/range/intro_remedy_utlra.htm

NO DIESEL WITH A BOOM SPRAYER!!!

You will need to do a foliar spray... reclaim will likely be what you need. You can also mix in some tordon if you have huisache or wild roses. Most of these are restricted use pesticides, so you will have to get a certified applicator license to buy them.

The best time to spray foliar sprays is in May/June when they have the most dense leaves on them... now they are probably pretty shriveled up and/or eaten by various bugs and critters.

You can also Remedy w/o diesel.

Gig Em

Spot Sprayer. In 15 gallon tank, mix 2.5 gallons of remedy, 1 qt sulfactant (sidekick), and remainder diesel. Just spray the base of the tree making sure that you spray a band around the entire trunk of the tree. Now is the time to spray. I sprayed last Saturday and checked today. Can already the effects. We had approx 60 acres with fairly thick Mesquites. Sprayed them 2 years ago. Follow up last year and same last week. Make sure you let the Mesquites die and fall over on there own. They will not come back.

this is what i do on a daily basis...

it depends on how thick they are. if you may possibly drive to broadcast spray here are some options.

1. 1/2 pint of Remedy + 1/2 pint of Reclaim/acre. 10 gallon water coverage minimum. 20 is better. With a good Non-ionic surfactant at 1 quart/100 gallons of spray.

2.6 pints of GrazonNext/acre works ok, but will take several years to wipe out. this works if you have intermittent mesquite in the pasture that you can spray while doing weeds also.

On an Individual Plant Treatment method, use a 0.5% solution of Remedy and 0.5% Reclaim minimum with a good non-ionic surfactant, plus marking dye (blue or red) so you can tell what you've sprayed. this only works once the leaves have turned dark green and the plant begins to store back down to the root, like now.

Another option is a 25% remedy + 75% diesel mix to treat basal. Spray the trunk only, NO LEAVES, from the ground up, all the way around, up to 18" high. This works the best if they have never been mowed and do not have multiple stems. You can also do this year round.

If you go the foliage route, how much of the canopy do you need to spray?

Just google "brush busters" and it will tell you what you need to know. Based on the equipment you have, you could do the foliar spray using the Reclaim/Remedy mixture plus a surfactant, or you could try the basal method of Remedy/diesel. I would do the basal method because you will get a 90% kill rate, but it is more work than foliar.

Ask the Agronomist(TM) says .....

1. It's too dry.
2. It's too late.
3. Remedy/Reclaim mix is the best.
4. Always remember: The easiest mesquite to kill, is a healthy, happy mesquite.
5. 5th thing here
6. $Profit$

Agree with Nos 1 & 2 on B1s list...too late, fo sho.

B-1 83,

Is there anything that is reliably effective against greenbrier? Not spot spraying. I have some bottoms where it is widespread.

This is not large bushes of the stuff, but small 6-8 inch plants (we shred the bottoms yearly). Have sprayed with Grazon PPD with limited success.

Thanks. I'll hang up and listen.

I would use Tordon 22K and Garlon 4 Ultra together.

it is too dry, but it is by no means too late. where do you come off with that?

greenbriar: (Any of these treatments is going to be a 3 year approach)

Cimarron Max 1:10 rate (rate 1 i believe) with a silicone surfactant, broadcast.
Spike 20P pellets works also, but make sure there is no desirable trees you want to keep. If so, do not use.

SWC bonfire, why not diesel in a boom sprayer with remedy and reclaim?

I'd listen to B 1-83 on this.

Bulldozer.

Thanks, guys.

Absolutely NO DIESEL with Remedy on a foliar application. Waste of time and money. Remedy and diesel is meant only for basal bark applications. Although, there are basal oils that are specifically formulated for basal applications that work much better than diesel.

As far as foliar goes, I recommend 2 quarts Remedy/acre, 2 quarts Tordon 22K/acre, and 1 pint of Reclaim, with 6 oz. of Inergy as a surfactant/acre.

Don's disturb (i.e. mow, shred, bulldoze, etc.) for at least 9 months after treatment.

2 words for this treatment...HAMMER DEAD.

[This message has been edited by aggiegolfsuper (edited 8/21/2011 11:21p).]

how does any of these sprays affect cattle? Right now, the cows are digging into the cactus to get to the grass and also eating the bottom leaves and pods of the mesquite trees.

http://texnat.tamu.edu/about/brush-busters/

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it is too dry, but it is by no means too late. where do you come off with that?

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You want to catch mesquite with a foliar spray just after the leaves mature (turn from light to dark green). At this point they are at their healthiest and taking the maximimum amount of carbohydrates to the roots. At this stage of the summer, you've had insect damage, normal "wear and tear", etc .... to the leaf area. Thus, my "too late" comment.

Why do you want to kill scattered, short breenbriar? Why kill a plant that is essentially evergreen, palitable to deer and livestock, and 20% crude protein?

That's a great link Hecubus. I have a problem with Yaupon trees. Do you have any suggestions or know where I can find out how to kill them? This would be a spot-spray application.

Scan down and look under "axe", and there is a link to a pdf on Yaupon.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land/habitats/oak_prairie/habitat_management/

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SWC bonfire, why not diesel in a boom sprayer with remedy and reclaim?

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It will likely knock the leaves off, and you want them to stay on so they absorb the remedy and reclaim. Not to mention you will be killing all the grass you have, too.

Those are the big reasons. The other reason no one thinks of is that the rubber components in your spray rig (hoses, o-rings, diaphrams, etc.) are designed to work with water and water-diluted chemicals. At best they will swell up and not work properly, at worst they will gum up and dissolve and cause all sorts of problems.

If you're going to spray diesel, use something with buna N (aka nitrile) rubber components, or just something you don't mind throwing away. FYI Buna N doesn't play nice with Gasoline, you need viton for that.

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Why do you want to kill scattered, short breenbriar? Why kill a plant that is essentially evergreen, palitable to deer and livestock, and 20% crude protein?

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That sounds great, in theory, but cattle won't eat it unless there's little else. They eat the grass around it and leave the greenbriar. I don't know if it is the thorns or the palatability, but they won't eat it. And, I'd have more grass production with less greenbriar production.

But if I am writing a management plan with deer in mind, I will be encouraging the greenbriar. I'm really going to be encouraging it if we are shooting for quail cover.

I'm in Brazos county. Sadly, the quail are long gone from this area.

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That's a great link Hecubus. I have a problem with Yaupon trees. Do you have any suggestions or know where I can find out how to kill them? This would be a spot-spray application.

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remedy/diesel as a basal treatment, exactly as above
or
Pasturegard foliar spray. 2% solution as an IPT. This also will work underneath desirable trees, as long as you are careful and dont get too carried away. Broadcast rate I believe is 2-3 pints/acre

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why not diesel in a boom sprayer with remedy and reclaim?

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not to mention, it is not a labeled application, and it is Illegal

I am currently spraying mesquite with a foliar application of reclaim/remedy/and surfactant similar to previous posts.

I was not planning on spraying this year but the mesquite in my hay fields scares the hay baler away (flats). I rationalize it like this:
1. Even though the timing is late and it is too dry, I will get some kill and it will definitely set the plant back and hopefully make most of the thorns curl before the Klein Grass and Coastal decides to grow again.

2. If I don't do this, my hay baler will never come back.

3. The mesquites and a few bullknettles & thistles is the only thing that is growing. About 50% of the mesquites are happily sprouting somehow...these will die. The other 50% are unhealthy, pale, whatever, but at least the spray will knock them back and maybe, just maybe curl or weaken the thorn so it won't cause a flat.