My last logging crew left me a gift, a nice stand of Cogongrass:




They did the logging in April and apparently swept out the back of a truck. I was spraying chufas in June and saw a patch of grass the size of a pickup bed. I had never seen Cogongrass to know what it was, and didn't really know what this was. I knew that it didn't look good, but I thought it was just a random patch of grass and didn't really connect it with the logging. I had Clethodim in the tank, so I drenched it good, and the tops were dead when I checked it a couple weeks later.

I hadn't been back until last week and I found a 40' square patch of the stuff. I got off the tractor and examined it, and only then did I realize it was Cogongrass and had to have been brought in by the loggers. I used the FEL to dig the patch up down to the clay and the roots were already more than a foot deep. Then I went to the co-op and bought a gallon of herbicide that is to be used around sideways and such. It's a mix of gly and imazypr and I realize it was not made to spray in a field, but I will sacrifice that section to stop this stuff. I saturated the ground with it, but there are roots and tops deep in that dirt pile and I doubt the herbicide will get all the way down. I probably should have sprayed the plants and waited a couple of weeks to dig it up, but I didn't know the roots would be that deep.

Do you guys that deal with it think that any of it will survive the winter? Any advice on what else I could do at this point? Thanks

If you dug it all up, I would recommend continued tillage in the spring. I realize you sprayed arsenal on it, but you might also want to consider a cover crop to see if it will grow on it, like a millet or this winter, a rye. I've found that plowing, followed by consistent tillage in the spring and summer kills it. That said, the arsenal you sprayed might be enough by itself. I've never been able to spray it with arsenal because it's always in places where I cannot use that.

Also, make sure you get it before it seeds out in march/april.

If the patch is that small can you just tarp it off somehow and rob it of sun for a summer?? I thought the heat under a black tarp might zap anything under it as well

Fight it with everything you've got and don't let up !! I would check all skid trails, around landings, and anywhere you find significant disturbance from the operation. Always be on the lookout for it from here on out. I wish you the best of luck, you can win this war against the young patches. I know men who have been fighting Cogongrass since 1985, it is persistent !

Thanks for the ideas. I probably do need to look around more and see if there are other patches of it. I was just concerned that I might have made a bed for some of the roots to survive the winter by piling it up the way I did. I might wait until a cold day in the winter and spread the dirt back out, then spray it again in the spring.

Treat area with high rate of arsenal. Spread the pile out and treat all of the dirt. Also make sure to spray outside the visible patch about 10’.

If arsenal can’t be used then use 5% mix of gly and treat anytime it greens up

If you can find Phase II adjuvant add it to the tank before adding glyphosate. I use Class Act when I don’t have Phase II. Both have AMS and surfactant but Phase II has silicate as well.

PCP, Arsenal and glyphosate are the two herbicides of choice. I suspect you will have some come back, and around other spots are likely. Please be vigilant as it spreads rapidly.

It’s never ending once you got it.I have had it on my place in bama for about 6 years and will get a patch dead and a year later another pops up.none of them are big and I am always looking when riding around.it’s absolutely horrible down here in Florida.

Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like I am in for another battle. I've already given up on eradicating my kudzu; I can knock it back but it is gonna still be there when I am dead and gone.

I am hopeful that the Cogongrass is limited to this one patch. They had already been working for over a week before they went to this spot, so it doesn't seem to have come from a skidder or cutter that would have really spread it. It started in the spot where they parked the pickups, so I think it came out of one of them.

I wonder why it is that plants that are so vigorous are always worthless?

Cogon is usually an easy battle to win

Is it better to plow it, or spray only?

I would not plow it unless you can keep plowing it for some time. Just doing it once or twice is likely to spread it. I would spray, regardless of what tillage you do.

IMO spray. I have a hard time thinking about tilling cogon to eradicate it.

This

It's taken over on my 120ac kill it quick and hope you can get it all

I hear that mixing diesel in with the Arsenal and gly works pretty good...

Why waste money on diesel when water is a very effective carrier with the Gly+imazapyr mix. You can only kill it so dead

My experience is that one application NEVER gets rid of the crap. Spray every time you get a chance. Much like Covid, Cogon is a gift from China. It is awful in Baldwin County.

I only use about a quart per tank. I’ve had better luck doing that and re-growth seems to be less than just a straight gly&arsenal mix. I was in the program with Florida Forestry and the forester who came to inspect for payment said she hadn’t seen anyone get rid of it as quick as I did. Said whatever I was doing to keep doing it.