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Re: *!?#@! CROWN VETCH

>On March 25, 1998, Carl Kurtz wrote:
>
>^We tried to reconstruct a diverse prairie community in a field infested
>^with a number of colonies of crown vetch 5 years ago.  For one year
>^preceeding planting, we first sprayed the patches, then kept the soil
>bare
>^by disking throughout the entire season, planting in the fall.  It
>appeared
>^that while we may have killed the mature plants we spread vetch seed over
>^the south 1/2 of the field and it came up and established small patches
>by
>^the dozen.  We then commenced spraying it once a season with 2-4-D, to
>^avoid killing the establishing grasses and it now appears after five
>years
>^we have achieved nearly complete control.  It is almost impossible to
>pull
>^and get all the roots from even a small colony.  In retrospect I would
>have
>^planted the field to corn, then soybeans before planting the prairie.
>Our
>^established prairie now looks great, but is short on forbs where we were
>^forced to spray the crown vetch, and we will have to monitor it for years
>^in the future.
>
>Karl, what is your thinking about planting the field first to corn, then
>to
>soybeans?  Someone earlier commented that the crown vetch seeds persisted
>in
>the soil for several years.  Would planting your field first to corn,
>then
>soybeans have altered that in some way? I'm curious because I have a 55
>acre
>field which I intend to restore to prairie beginning in three years and
>I'm
>thinking about the best way to prepare the soil.  Currently it's rotated
>with
>corn and soybeans.  Is there something useful about this?
>
>
>Gordon Fuqua
>e-mail: pfuqua@ix.netcom.com
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Gordon,

My thinking on the crown vetch was that we might have germinated some of
the seeds and reduced the potential seed bank.  Another alternative I have
thought of is deep plowing in an attempt to bury the seed below the level
where it would germinate.

I know it is very hard to eradicate and we have a small area about 1 acre.
We are also seeing occasional plants pop up in other prairie planting that
are from 100 to 200 yards from the original plants and to my knowledge the
original area has not produced seeds for at least 5 years.

You might also want to contact Steve Holland from the Iowa DOT as they have
treated out miles of I-35 north of Ames and replanted the right-of way to
mixed prairie.  So far it looks quite good from the road, but I do not know
what kind of reinfestation they are finding with the crown vetch.

Maybe 4 or 5 years of corn or beans would be better!!!!

Good Luck.

Carl Kurtz

Carl Kurtz
515-477-8364
cpkurtz@netins.net 


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