We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Robin Allen, a CHS Educator has assigned each of her Junior high students in Exploratory Agriculture a noxious weed to research. Their job is to be able to recognize noxious weeds as well as educate others on how to eradicate and stop the spread of the weed. There are a total of 36 weeds we will learn about through this project and the Blaine County Journal will Spotlight 1 or 2 each week.
Cheatgrass
By Ben Hofeldt:
Cheatgrass has a life cycle of seasons. It seeds in mid summer, and sprouts in fall. In winter, it goes dormant. It finishes growing throughout spring and early summer. The leaves are flat with small hairs. They have blades on the end of them. The stems are short and don’t usually grow very tall. They can be pretty thick or very thin. You can get rid of cheatgrass with herbicides. To keep it from spreading, you have to spray it with herbicides before it is to the seeding stage. You can find cheatgrass anywhere in Montana. The most common place to find it is in dry gravely places where nothing else grows. It spreads because the seeds are small and blow through the wind easy. Another reason is that the seeds get stuck in cows hooves, drop somewhere and start a new patch.
Curly Leaf Pondweed
By Jenna Liddle:
You can find this weed normally in a lot of water in nice soil. It looks red under water, but it’s true color is green. This weed starts to grow at the beginning of spring. It grows before most pond-weeds. It dies in the middle of summer. The leaves on this plant are a half inch wide and two to three inches long. The leaves at the edge have small teeth. There are flowers that grow barely above the surface. The flowers may appear to look brownish red, but it’s true color you have to look close. It’s true color is green. It’s stem can have multiple colors like white, green, red, and brown. Tends to branch more at the top. This plant grows 15-feet tall. The seeds spread from water flow. When cattle drink out of the water, or if a family goes swimming it makes the water move. When the water flow comes it knocks the seeds off then the seeds float with the water, and watercraft are likely to cause spread the species. There is a powder substance to use to get rid of this weed. This substance is called Ultra Pond-weed Defense. You need to use this throughout the season of this weed. This weed came from Africa, Australia, and Eurasia. It came to the Midwest, because of common carp.
Hydrilla
By Brockton Elliot:
How To Identify
“Female plants produce tiny white flowers that float on the surface; male plants produce tiny green-white flowers that break loose and float. Stems are submersed and slender. The leaves are in whorls of 3 – 10 around the stem with rough edges. The length of them are up to 25 feet.” They live in springs, lakes, ponds, marshes, ditches and rivers. They look like Brazilian water-weed.
How To Prevent
Avoid boating through mats of Hydrilla. This will reduce fragmentation and the spreading of plants. Clean any mud and or plant fragments from your boat before leaving a water body. Drain all of the water from your boat. Dry your boat after each use. Never release aquarium or water garden plants into the wild. seal them in a plastic bag and throw them in the trash.
How To Get Rid of Hydrilla
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