Grass weeds: names, photos, methods of struggle

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

There are currently 6,000 different types of weeds. Those that grow in the meadows are used as livestock feed. Others, growing in cultivated fields and vegetable gardens, become pests. Weeds that are classified as cereals cause particular damage.

Types of weeds

All weeds are divided into two types: monocots and dicots. Such a distribution is very important in the fight against them, since in order for the work to eliminate them to be effective, it is necessary to know which of these classes a particular plant belongs to. They should not be left in the fields or gardens, as they cause significant damage to the crop, and sometimes because of them, cultural crops that cannot withstand an unequal struggle can completely die.

Difference between species

Clear differences between monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous grasses have been identified. They consist in the following botanical features:

• Monocots in the grain germ have onecotyledons, while dicots have two.
• The former have a fibrous root, the latter have a taproot.
• Leaves of monocotyledonous weeds are always simple, in dicotyledonous weeds they can have a different structure. Plants with a complex leaf plate between two germinal buds on the stem throw out a new one.
• Monocots have only a single perianth, while dicots have a double perianth.
• Plants of the first group lack educational tissue in stems and roots, while the second group has it.

Among the cereal weeds, representatives of the dicotyledonous species growing in the fields of crops of the same family are more common.

Representatives of Species

The names of grass weeds are often associated with their appearance or some botanical differences. Here is a list of monocot pests that can destroy a significant part of the crop:

• batch;
• hedgehog;
• rye bonfire;
• field foxtail;
• oats empty;
• field broom;
• annual bluegrass, etc.

Among dicotyledonous weeds, the danger to cereal crops is:

• spurge;
• garden thistle;
• pig fingered;
• green bristles;
• chaff perennial, etc.

All of these plants should be de alt with as they greatly affect the yield. Especially dangerous are already mature, as in the photo, cereal weeds, which absorb a large amount of nutrients from cultivated crops.

Duration of growth

In addition to differences in their structure, cereal weeds are divided according to the life cycle. Some of them appear annually from new grain, while others are able to winter and grow from a preserved root, so they are called annual or perennial.

Annual grass weeds include:

• batch;
• hedgehog;
• rye bonfire;
• field foxtail;
• annual bluegrass;
• cornflower blue;
• spurge.

The following plants are perennial:

• humai;
• couch grass;
• perennial ryegrass;
• salamalia;
• chaff perennial.

Dicotyledonous annuals

These weeds are widely distributed and can cause great damage to cultivated plants:

1. Blue cornflower. This pest grows mainly in fields with cereal crops. The height of its stem can reach 90 cm, and the flowers have a different color - from blue to dark blue. Active vegetation begins at the end of spring, and flowering lasts from June until autumn frosts. Each flower produces over 1,000 seeds, which can be viable (in the ground) for up to 10 years. Such a grassy weed often does not cause any particular problems to cultivated plants.
2. Spurge. This weed is strong enough due to a well-developed and strong root. Its stem with elongated leaves can grow up to half a meter. Its first sprouts are observed in late spring andit blooms throughout the summer. Despite the fact that the germination of milkweed seeds is very low, due to their number, the weed annually appears in those places where legumes, cereals and fodder crops are cultivated. A very serious fight should be waged against this plant, since its uncontrolled growth can lead to the complete seizure of areas with crops.
3. Sow thistle. Another annual dicotyledonous grass weed, which poses a significant threat to crops, since it is quite difficult to deal with it. The reason for this is its strong and long root, deepening two meters into the ground. Simply pulling out this weed is often not enough, as some of the rhizome shoots may remain in the ground, which will lead to the germination of a new stem soon.

Perennial dicotyledonous weeds

These weeds have a huge supply of nutrients, so they can develop quickly. The most common of them are the following:

• Pig finger. The first shoots of this plant come from grain, but in subsequent years it grows from a root preserved in the ground. It appears in the areas of crops from mid-spring, blooms in June, and begins to bear fruit from July to September. The plant is thermophilic, therefore, its habitat is the southern regions of Russia and Central Asia.
• The chaff is perennial. This weed prefers to grow on loamy soils rich in nitrogen. Most often found on rapeseed and grain crops. It reproduces by elongated root sections that germinate in the spring. It starts flowering in the middle of summer, and in autumn it drops seeds that can remain in the soil for up to 4 years.

Monocotyledonous annual weeds

Annual weed grows both in fields and in vegetable gardens. Common representatives include: barnyard, butlatchok, field foxtail, annual bluegrass:

• Butlachok. This pest grows from spring to autumn on soil with a high content of carbonate and sufficient moisture. In height it can reach more than half a meter. Its leaves are sharp and narrow, with small grooves. Seeds can remain viable for 10 years. This grass weed prefers to grow among winter cereals, row crops and oilseeds. Its presence significantly reduces the quality and quantity of the crop, and also complicates the harvesting (threshing) process.
• Herzhovnik. Loves moist humus, loamy and sandy soils rich in nutrients. Barnyard sprouts germinate in early summer from last year's seeds, which can be in the soil until germination from 3 to 5 years. This plant is rightfully considered the most malicious cereal weed. It enters into serious competition with corn crops, because it grows from May to August. Its active vegetation and high seedling density negatively affects the cereal yield.

• Foxtail field. It chooses a place of growth for carbonate soils provided with moisture. Grows from early spring to mid-autumn. On its stem, which reaches 60 cm,there are spikelets with seeds. It spreads on winter cereals, row crops and oilseeds. Significantly affects the quality of the crop and its threshing.
• Annual bluegrass. It grows on nitrogen-containing and well-moistened soil. Seeds are formed on a panicle extending from the stem. For grain crops, it does not pose a particular danger, but the corn crop can reduce it.

Monocotyledonous perennials

Monocotyledonous perennial grasses include the following:

1. Gumai. It grows mainly on moist nitrogen-containing soils, from spring to late summer. Annually sprouts from last year's seeds, as well as long root shoots. It has a smooth straight stem with serrated leaves. There is no significant harm from it to cereal crops.
2. Creeping couch grass. This weed does not have special preferences in the soil, however, it develops more actively on land with a high humus content. It grows from spring to cold autumn. Its stem is straight and smooth with twisted leaves. It spreads on cereal crops and worsens the quality of the harvest and harvesting.
3. Perennial ryegrass. Begins to sprout with the advent of spring on loamy soil. Perennial this weed provide underground lateral shoots. The stem, covered with dark green leaves, grows up to 50 cm. Despite being a valuable pasture plant, it harms the growth of cereals, potatoes and rapeseed.

Methods of struggle

As a fight against cereal weeds, you can use mechanical and chemicalmeans.

An effective way to eliminate weeds is to remove plants along with their root system, using special tools or manually. This method will be most effective when the weeds are not yet seeded.

In the fields and other large areas, mechanical control of such plants is carried out using special equipment, which is equipped with weeders.

Also, such methods include covering the earth with special materials that do not allow light to penetrate. Holes are made in the protective canvas, into which cultivated plants are planted. However, this method is only suitable for vegetable gardens, since it is not possible to implement this in the fields.

Chemical methods of controlling grass weeds involve the use of special herbicides that, when they penetrate the soil, destroy the root system of weeds, as well as their seeds.

All funds are divided into two groups: soil and post-emergence. The use of the first herbicides is possible only during the period when there are no crops and plantings in the soil yet. Such agents, falling into the ground, kill weed seeds before they germinate. Post-emergence cultivate the soil after the appearance of crops. They are more complex in composition, since their action is directed selectively. Herbicides destroy harmful plants, and crops do not have any effect.