7.6 PH Level & Horsetail

Hey Guys-

I just had a soil test done on a food plot(see the attachment). The plot is right next to a large swamp and it’s showing the current PH at 7.6. The first year(4 years ago) I planted clover and brassicas and it turned out great! Fast forward to this year and the horsetail has taken over to the point where I can’t even plant anything anymore. By spraying/disc’ing the area for a food plot encouraged the horsetail to take off. Gly will not kill it and I’m at a loss as to how to get rid of it. I thought horsetail liked lower PH levels and I was hoping to simply add some lime to discourage the growth. With a 7.6 reading, it’s definitely not low.
Thoughts?

1st thing is get that PH down a little. 7.6 is too high in my opinion. I am no expert on high Ph though, only had to deal with low PH.

What are you planting in it this year? If brassica, you still have time to hit it with 2-4D to kill the horsetail and I would add in gly to kill what the 2-4D doesn’t. Then fertilize with urea which in itself will lower PH, but also brassica loves N.

Yes, hoping to plant brassica’s.

2-4D will kill the horsetail???

Interesting. Do you mind me asking where your property is located approximately?

Having high pH or alkaline soil is pretty uncommon in the Upper Midwest except in parts of the Dakotas and Northwest Minnesota. Would be interested to know where your property is located.

Horsetail can be killed with 2 4 D, but I believe there are some caveats around certain stages of its growth where 2 4 D is most effective. Definitely not an expert. Just relaying what I’ve heard.

I agree with sticker though. I would try to lower your pH if possible.

You still have time to plant brassicas, or you could certainly plant late clover in August if the rain continues as it has so far for most of the Upper Midwest. I just planted our Midwest Monster AlfalfaMAX product yesterday. So there is certainly plenty of time.

Grouse

I have planted turnips brassicas and daikon radish in the beginning of Aug . And have good results. I am right next to a swamp with 5.5 soil ph. I get quack grass , horsetail and a variety of other undesirables. I do not use glyphosate . I plow with a 2 bottom and disc and disc and disc. I will keep discing until im ready to plant. You need to add an acidic compost your soil , that takes time .Aluminum sulfate will lower ph . Every year i’m dumping pelletized lime, my soil is acid , blueberries do well . Amazingly my food plots turn out pretty good considering the low ph. I’m centrally located in northern wisconsin 60 miles south of Lake Superior

Just to put it in perspective, 7.6 is only slightly alkaline. Most food plot crops do just fine between 6 and 7, so I wouldn’t kill yourself trying to adjust the PH.

The horsetail, however, is a different story…

Grouse

Grouse- The property is located on the north eastern edge of Otter Tail county. My neighbor to the east is in Wadena county.

ranger777 wrote:

Grouse- The property is located on the north eastern edge of Otter Tail county. My neighbor to the east is in Wadena county.

Makes sense. Count yourself lucky, I guess, you’re one of the few of us in most of MN, WI, MI, etc that doesn’t have to worry about spreading tons of lime…

I like Sticker’s idea of a a glyphosate/2-4-D mix to kill the horsetail and everything else. Hit it hard.

Grouse

What keeps me from using gly is the evidence it is showing up in cows milk . If it’s doing that its most definitely showing up in whitetail doe milk . The claims of the salt dissipating to a harmless level have proven to be false. A lot of money being made on claims of the product being safe. I will just keep plowing and discing for now.

ranger777 wrote:

Yes, hoping to plant brassica’s.

2-4D will kill the horsetail???

If you can get it while it’s young. Gly will also kill it when it is young or with multiple applications. The thing about horsetail is it has a heavy wax coating. Make sure your gly has surfactant added to it.