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,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

wrote in message

This weed, which we call "The Tumor" (in your best Arnold
Schwartzenager voice) is drivng us nuts. It comes on super fast,
grows super fast and returns after we pull it out. Its got prickly
edges. See phot link below.

Is there a chemical based weed killer that can take this out? Preen
did nothing to it. This weed just laughed at Preen.

http://ucemergencymedicineorg.siteprotect.net/weed.jpg

It's one of the thistle family and you'd need agricultural chemicals to kill
it, BUT I'd advise you not to go there. In fact I'd advise you not to
poison them at all - I'll explain why further on in the post.

Thistles are actually wonderful plants as they are 'deep miners'. What I
mean by that is that they send their roots down waaaay deep and bring
minerals up into the top soil. If you ever dig out a REALLY big thistle you
will find that clinging right in close to the tap root are huge numbers of
earth worms - far more worms that it would be reasonable to expect. the
worms are obviously getting somethign from the roots and it's probably
access to those minerals (somehow or other).

Thistles will continue to come up for many, many years even if you have
never allowed them to go to seed. Their seeds seem to have viability for
decades.

Given the growing pattern of the plants in your pic, I doubt very much that
the plants you see are 'returning' from any root left in the soil (and they
do do that if you just chip off the growing tip high on the tap root). What
you have there are new plants and unless you poison your soil to such an
extent that nothing else will grow, they will continue to emerge until the
seed sources are exhausted. The best thing to do is to just do the 'normal'
thing and that is to weed. They are very easily dealt with by weeding -
just slide a long bladed hand trowel down the side of the tap root and
lever - out in 2 seconds flat if you get then small. And even if they do
grow huge, the flowers are always gorgeous and frequently the foliage is too
depending on the variety of thistle.

See if you can identify it.
http://www.pfaf.org/database/search_...LNAMES=thistle
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death." - Rachel Carson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI29wVQN8Go

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html