Because it is taking multiple doses of Spectracide as if I was fertilizing it. It grows BIG; on good soil the flower of an over achiever can reach 3 feet, on a carrot like taproot that can go foot and a half down.
How can I kill them without blighting everything around them? I need a chemical control, they are relentless and their numbers are legion
By the way those babies are on gravel. Extrapolate the size for the ones on good orchard soil.
If Milestone doesn’t take care of it, I don’t know what else would.
Caveat = I only use Milestone where I have zero intentions of growing anything but grass for the next few years. I wouldn’t use it in my orchards.
I would like to find something I can use near my plants… So far I had very good luck with judicious use of Spectracide right next to bushes (windless days, dry days, cool days, avoiding spray over, etc).
If you know; is that for emergent weeds? What’s the half life of the stuff on soil? I would like to find something that works by absorption through the leaves, with little soil transferability, and a half life measured in days, not geological ages.
Yes, Milestone if for emergent weeds. I don’t know the half life in the soil, but if it’s a concern I wouldn’t use the stuff. It kills thistles with 3’ deep roots here very, very efficiently.
Something that has 2-4D, dicamba, and mecocrop as ingredients (I use Triplet SF) would likely be less harsh and still get the job done.
Which Spectracide herbicide are you using?
With weeds like that, burdock, dock and thistle I just take a walk around with a narrow spade and cut the taproot below the crown. Takes less time than you think, and works like a voodoo charm.
That doesn’t work on dandelions. You are saying that the taproot won’t push them back up by the next morning?
Organic option… vinegar with some dish soap added.
I use the norm 5% on weeds in my sidewalk cracks and concrete slab outside the garage… works well on most weeds and grass.
You can get vinegar in 10, 20, even 30% strength… check online. Have to be very carefully with the stronger stuff.
In places where you do not plan to grow anything add a heap of salt to the mix.
Best to spray on a hot sunny day… no wind.
It works on mine. Down about 1.5" below the soil level- just a single slice with the spade.
It looks like dandelion to me. There’s a field where corn and beans are grown alternating years. The dandelions come up year after year and are huge. It’s a good place to go to harvest flowers for dandelion wine.
If you’re a coffee drinker, you might want to try harvesting the roots and making coffee sometime. My process is cutting off the crowns, washing the roots, then curing for a day or two. Then I slice up the root into coffee bean sizes pieces and “roast” in a cast iron skillet. Grind up in a coffee grinder. The flavor is similar to chicory coffee with the sweet floral notes of dandelion. It’s not as rich as regular coffee but I like it, especially when I feel like having a coffee but don’t want caffeine.
Triclopyr herbicide would probably be effective. It’s a common pasture herbicide used to kill broadleaf plants without harming grass and used as a brush killer as well.
I’ve done that for poison ivy and unwanted passiflora lutea all throughout my yard and it took three applications over the course of a couple weeks but it works!
@jeremybyington - one hot sunny day and a single application and most weeds are brown and down for me… usually in just a couple hours if it is like 90+.
When you get massive dandelions like that it’s worth digging the roots to roast into a “coffee”. It’s delicious.
Just chop into small pieces and dry sautee till they are dry and “blackened” (but not burnt). Same idea as coffee roasting. You can then grind it and brew with hot water. It tastes like the best coffee ever. No caffeine though obviously.
You could tarp the area off with sileage tarps. A couple weeks of hot weather kills all vegetation that is tarped. Black side up preferably. Or old greenhouse plastic. Weight it down well!
By the way, killing weeds growing in gravel will only encourage additional weed growth because all the organic matter is still there creating better “soil” for the next generation of weeds. Physically removing them from gravel is ideal for that reason.
You lost me at no caffeine 
If you turn away from foods/beverages with no caffeine you will find yourself on quite a restricted diet indeed.
A couple years ago I spent hours (and I mean hours) cutting thistles below the crown. I aimed for anywhere between 1 and 4" below the soil surface. I figured I had kicked their butts…wrong. They all came back from the root.
I’m pretty sure dandelions would do the same thing
On the same vein, what’s the best broad leaf herbicide with short half life and minimal ground transport?
Burdock roots can be tasty!
