Hello All - on our allotments a large amount of ragwort has started sprouting around the bins where the grass clippings are dumped - suggesting that the seed crept in among the clippings. Of course everyone has spread the clippings around on their plot and we face a ragwort crisis!
I'm reliably informed that what we need is Cinnabar moths, whose caterpillars live on ragwort and can eat it to nothing in no time. I've also heard you can buy the live caterpillars to introduce them to their favourite food and set them to work.
I found a website which seemed to offer help but didn't.. it's either not working or shut down.
So my question is: (finally)
does anyone know where we can get cinnabar moth caterpillars?
(I realise this is a long shot but you never know).
Ragwort horror
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Hi GIULIA,
Cinnabar Moths are no substitute for pulling the plants up whole and bagging and burning when dry.
Certainly the Cinnabar caterpillars eat Ragwort but in many cases only damage the foliage which recovers and goes on to seed. I feel that you would be giving yourself expense where none is needed.
Hereabouts we have a dedicated purge on Ragwort every year now since a number of horses died from eating infected hay. Although we pull-up everything in sight it takes several years to clear a large infestation and I suspect that it is residual seeds that lay dormant for several years before germinating that are responsible.
Remember that it only takes one flower to set and shed seed and it starts all over again. We clear all the verges yet it appears again year after year.
JB.
Cinnabar Moths are no substitute for pulling the plants up whole and bagging and burning when dry.
Certainly the Cinnabar caterpillars eat Ragwort but in many cases only damage the foliage which recovers and goes on to seed. I feel that you would be giving yourself expense where none is needed.
Hereabouts we have a dedicated purge on Ragwort every year now since a number of horses died from eating infected hay. Although we pull-up everything in sight it takes several years to clear a large infestation and I suspect that it is residual seeds that lay dormant for several years before germinating that are responsible.
Remember that it only takes one flower to set and shed seed and it starts all over again. We clear all the verges yet it appears again year after year.
JB.
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alan refail
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Giulia
Where do you get cinnabar moth caterpillars? I suppose you grow some ragwort and wait for them to come - as they do. I'm not being funny - that's what I see every year.
Johnboy's advice is the only way. We have a very few few ragwort plants that pop up in odd places. It is noticeable that as soon as they are any height the caterpillars will be on them, but they were presumably laid on them. I also notice that they appear on only a small percentage of plants. Then they eat the foliage, usually allowing the flowers to open and the seed to set.
Pull 'em up. It's not too difficult when the plants are small.
Alan
Where do you get cinnabar moth caterpillars? I suppose you grow some ragwort and wait for them to come - as they do. I'm not being funny - that's what I see every year.
Johnboy's advice is the only way. We have a very few few ragwort plants that pop up in odd places. It is noticeable that as soon as they are any height the caterpillars will be on them, but they were presumably laid on them. I also notice that they appear on only a small percentage of plants. Then they eat the foliage, usually allowing the flowers to open and the seed to set.
Pull 'em up. It's not too difficult when the plants are small.
Alan
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Giulia, as the other old boys have suggested, pulling up the plants and burning them so to destroy the seeds is really the only answer.
Could you arrange a day, and have a mass pulling from your allotment holders, many hands make light work, and that team spirit will help to get it done quicker.
Could you arrange a day, and have a mass pulling from your allotment holders, many hands make light work, and that team spirit will help to get it done quicker.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
I spent some time this morning pulling up ragwort on our local Nature Reserve (with gloved hands, Johnboy!) where I am the voluntary warden. The seeds must blow a fair distance because every year we get about 8 or 10 plants which I always pull up and destroy, so they have not grown from seeded plants on the spot. We noticed that earlier this week council workers were pulling up dozens of plants along the road between our village and our nearest market town.
It's strange, though, how horses can graze on a ragwort overgrown field without problem whereas it's poisonous when it's part of hay!
It's strange, though, how horses can graze on a ragwort overgrown field without problem whereas it's poisonous when it's part of hay!
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peter
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Monika wrote:.....It's strange, though, how horses can graze on a ragwort overgrown field without problem whereas it's poisonous when it's part of hay!
I would guess Monika that dobbin can recognise the plant when growing, but when dried and mixed up with other dried plants its a bit more difficult.
e.g. You would not eat Deadly Nightshade berries, but if I added them to a fresh fruit salad you might think "how nice blueberries", or not even notice.
Do not put off thanking people when they have helped you, as they may not be there to thank later.
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I've had good advice from an old mate in Shropshire about this.. his advice is to decapitate the flowerheads before seed sets, but leave the foliage for the Cinnabars so they can breed on for next year. Shropshire County Council claim to have had great success with Cinnabars and my mate (who works for them) warned me to avoid the special ragwort spray killer in the vicinity of food crops, he reckoned its more toxic than the weed itself. The health risk to humans is jaundice apparently.. if you hand pull lots of ragwort and then light a cigarette or eat a butty with the juice on your hands you may reap nasty consequences many months later! Yuk!
Peter, you're absolutely right about dried ragwort. Horses can smell it when it's live but the scent disappears when dried and if it gets mixed in with normal hay they can't detect it. That's why it's important to know where your hay comes from!
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Elderflower
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After reading this thread I`ve spotted a quite overgrown plot near my allotment which has great clumps of ragweed on it. I know the plotholder is quite ill at the moment.
I`ve looked on the internet and the DEFRA site said that it was low risk if it is a good way from grazing animals. We are an urban site bordered by houses and main roads, about a mile as the ragweed seed flies from agricultural land.
Is it worth getting the committee to do something about it? The plot has a locked gate.
I wouldn`t like to hassle the plot holder.
I`ve looked on the internet and the DEFRA site said that it was low risk if it is a good way from grazing animals. We are an urban site bordered by houses and main roads, about a mile as the ragweed seed flies from agricultural land.
Is it worth getting the committee to do something about it? The plot has a locked gate.
I wouldn`t like to hassle the plot holder.
A local farmer told me that it is the root which is attractive and poisonous to cattle. So the problem arises when it is pulled up and left on the ground where it is available to livestock. There is Ragwort growing at the side of some local lanes along which cattle are driven on a daily basis and no-one seems unduly concerned.
Regards to all, Gerry.
Regards to all, Gerry.
Hi Gerry,
I'm afraid that your local farmer is totally wrong.
Ragwort, the whole plant, is hazardous to cattle and more especially to horses. Whilst the plant is standing they will not eat it but if it is cut as part of a hay crop then it is at it's most hazardous as when dried it loses it's smell. The roots do not really come into the equation, as you will appreciate, because they are left in the ground with the hay making process.
JB.
I'm afraid that your local farmer is totally wrong.
Ragwort, the whole plant, is hazardous to cattle and more especially to horses. Whilst the plant is standing they will not eat it but if it is cut as part of a hay crop then it is at it's most hazardous as when dried it loses it's smell. The roots do not really come into the equation, as you will appreciate, because they are left in the ground with the hay making process.
JB.
Hi Giulia,
I am not sure that your friends idea of controlling Ragwort is sound.
As I have explained to Gerry in my previous posting
the whole plant is poisonous so simply taking the flowering heads off seems to defeat the object.
There will still be enough left standing for the Cinnabar Moths because for example we only clear productive land and verges alongside these areas.
I live right on the Shropshire/Mid-Wales border and I know that Ragwort, in my immediate area across all borders, is treated the same as we do.
JB.
I am not sure that your friends idea of controlling Ragwort is sound.
As I have explained to Gerry in my previous posting
the whole plant is poisonous so simply taking the flowering heads off seems to defeat the object.
There will still be enough left standing for the Cinnabar Moths because for example we only clear productive land and verges alongside these areas.
I live right on the Shropshire/Mid-Wales border and I know that Ragwort, in my immediate area across all borders, is treated the same as we do.
JB.
Well we're advising people to pull it up and burn it if its on their plot but I've decapitated the couple of clumps around the car parking area and the caterpillars are doing their thing. We don't have a grazing animal issue here in the middle of Liverpool so we just want to keep it in check. I'd quite like to see more Cinnabar moths around just for their fine good looks!