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NOXIOUS WEED DEPARTMENT |
Field Bindweed control program |
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Description | Reduction | Control | Herbicides | Biological Control | Pictures |
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*Information provided by County Weed Directors Association of Kansas Field Bindweed, a perennial, reproduces by seeds and rootstocks. The root system is extensive, extending to a depth of 20 to 30 feet. The smooth, slender stems twine or spread over the soil and vegetation. Leaves up to 2 inches long are alternate, simple, petioled, quite variable in size, and highly variable in shape. The leaf blade may be oblong to elliptical or may be rounded to pointed with spreading basal lobes. Flowers are white, pink, or white with pink. Funnel shaped, they are about 1 inch across and usually borne singly in the axis of leaves. The flower stalk has two bracts 1/2 to 2 inches below the flower; the bracts, along with leaf shape and small flower size distinguish this plant from hedge bindweed. Seeds are dark, brownish-gray, about 1/8 inch long and have one rounded and two flattened sides. Though small, these seeds can lay dormant for up to 30 years. Fort Hays Experiment Station's twelve year study shows that competition with crops for water and nutrients will reduce yield of wheat by 30% and milo by as much as 78%. Heavy infestations of field bindweed reduces land value as well as crop yields. Field bindweed is spread both by seed and by roots. New field bindweed infestations result from planting crop seed contaminated with the bindweed seed or from portions of bindweed roots transported by tillage machinery, harvesting equipment, manure from livestock that have been fed contaminated feed, and migrating animals that graze infested and non-infested areas. Seed is carried by birds, on feet of animals, or on wheels of machinery; and seeds or plants parts can be spread by road machinery. Bindweed seed is also carried in drainage water. Small grain, forage, and legume seed should be cleaned before planting to remove seed of bindweed and other weeds. For livestock feed one should use grain, hay and other feed not infested with bindweed or other weeds difficult to control. If bindweed infested feed is fed to livestock the manure should not be spread on bindweed free land. Harvesting, tillage and other machinery should be cleaned before it leaves a bindweed infested field. Control of field bindweed shall mean preventing the production of viable seed and destroying the plant's ability to reproduce by vegetative means. Bindweed seed is viable after remaining dormant in the soil for many years. Seeds brought near the soil surface by tillage, rodents, or other means will germinate under favorable conditions, resulting in new bindweed infestations. Effective field bindweed control can be achieved by applying appropriate control practices. In developing a bindweed control program one should consider the various alternative control practices and use one or more appropriate control practices for a particular cropland or non-cropland area. Field Bindweed Control Practices for Cropland. Practices approved for controlling bindweed on cropland are: (1) Plant competitive crops, (2) Appropriate and timely cultivation, and (3) Application of herbicides registered for use in infested crops or on cropland with no growing crops. Often a combination of control practices results in a more effective program than a single practice does. Competitive Cropping - Narrow row or high population milo or sudan grass can help reduce losses by competing for sunlight and shading the field bindweed. Intensive Cultivation - Tillage 10 days to two weeks after emergence of field bindweed helps in reducing root reserves. This practice is expensive and not always practical because no crop can be grown during the tillage period. *Combining intensive cultivation with competitive cropping or herbicides improves control. Cultural controls alone will seldom control field bindweed. Field Bindweed Control Practices for Non-Cropland. Practices approved for controlling bindweed on non-cropland are: (1) hoeing, and (2) application of appropriate herbicides. Hoeing - This practice is only feasible on a small scale like home gardens, flower boxes or flower beds, horticultural and forestry plantings. Hoeing at regular intervals of 10 days to two weeks after emergence of field bindweed reduces the plants root reserves. It is essential to cut off all plants at each hoeing. Bindweed plants missed in hoeing replenish their reserves, which delays killing time. Results will not be satisfactory if bindweed plants are left outside the hoed area because those plants will supply food to the roots for a distance of about 10 feet, preventing the killing of the established bindweed in the hoed area. The following herbicides may be used for cost-share with landowners. Other products labeled and registered for use on this noxious weed in Kansas may be used in accordance with label directions buy are not available for cost-share. 2, 4-D Amine & Ester. Apply during active growth in spring when plant is in bud stage or in the fall after 12 inches of growth. Follow label directions and precautions. Dicamba (Banvel). After crop harvest, apply as spot treatment to stubble, fallow or other cropland. Apply during bindweed growth but before killing frost. Follow label directions and precautions. Glyphosate (Roundup). Follow label directions and precautions. Picloram (Tordon). A restricted use herbicide. Follow label directions and precautions. Imazapyr (Arsenal). Follow label directions and precautions. Fosamine (Krenite). DO NOT APPLY TO CROPLAND. Follow label directions and precautions. Imazapic (Plateau). Follow label directions and precautions. There are no biological controls approved for field bindweed at this time. |