Sow thistle field: description of species, useful properties and methods of controlling the plant on the site

Description of the plant

Herbaceous plants belonging to the genus of the same name of the Astrov family have several dozen species, of which only three are the most common in our latitudes.

Sow thistle field (yellow)

Field thistle is a perennial with a powerful tap root reaching a depth of 4 m. Lateral roots have multiple branches and are located in the upper layers of the soil at a depth of about 0 m.

The ground part can reach a height of 1 m. The stem is strong, smooth at the base, slightly pubescent closer to the peduncles, branches at the top. The leaves are large, toothed, dark green above and grayish below.

The weed blooms with delicate yellow flowers collected in basket inflorescences. After flowering, up to 20 thousand small brown seeds are formed on each plant, which are dispersed by the wind. For its habitat, the weed chooses gardens, wastelands, ravines, a river bank or a marsh area.

lowlands ogorodnıy

This weed is an annual plant. Its stem is small, 30–100 cm high, and the leaves are smaller, pointed and located on petioles. Like yellow, it blooms with golden flowers, outwardly similar to dandelions, the inflorescences of which are wider than those of the field, and reach a diameter of 3 cm. The flowering time is the same as that of the field sow thistle. Seeds are brown, with white fluffy tufts. It is found most often in vegetable gardens, as well as in meadows.

Thistle pink

This species is called a bodyak. It is one of the varieties of field sow thistle, but unlike its relative, it has a pink flower color, which darkens to the end of flowering and becomes almost blue. The stem of the plant is powerful, reaches a height of 1 m. The entire ground part, especially the leaves, are covered with sharp spines. The root is vertical, on the branches it has renewal buds, therefore, in a few years it grows to a depth of 6–4 m, greatly depleting the soil. The weed lives mainly in wastelands, meadows, fields, along roads.

On what soils does thistle grow?

The weed is undemanding to the composition of the soil, therefore its range covers almost all of Europe, partly Central and Central Asia, and is also found on the African and American continents. It gives particular trouble to the farmers of Belarus, Ukraine, the European part of Our Country, the Caucasus and Siberia.

The favorite habitats of thistle are empty plots of land, fields, vegetable gardens, sometimes gardens. It shows incredible germination on fertile, well-moistened soils, especially those fertilized with mineral nitrogen, but it can also grow on dried, slightly saline soils. The weed propagates by vegetative shoots and seeds, which are carried by the wind over great distances and germinate without a dormant period.

Sow thistle seeds have incredible vitality. Once in the ground, they retain their germination for about 20 years.

Application in folk medicine

All the above types of weeds have healing properties due to the high content of biologically active substances: alkaloids, fatty oils, organic acids, vitamins. These components endow plants with a healing effect and provide a good therapeutic effect.

Показания

Infusions and decoctions help get rid of the following health problems:

• headaches, fever, chills;
• neurosis, depression caused by physical and mental overstrain;
• inflammatory processes in the digestive tract, lungs;
• internal and uterine bleeding;
• worms;
• gout, abscesses;
• hepatic colic;
• facilitate the course of hemorrhoids;
• the leaves of the plant heal wounds, cuts, boils.

Also, a decoction of the leaves is recommended for diabetes, as the bitterness contained in them helps to reduce blood sugar levels.

Противопоказания

Preparations and products based on sow thistle are not recommended for use:

• during pregnancy and lactation,
• in severe chronic diseases of the digestive tract and spleen;
• with intolerance to plant components.

The weed contains poison, so it is advisable to consult a doctor about the appropriateness of its use and dosage.

Preparation of medicinal raw materials

For the preparation of medicinal decoctions, the stem part, leaves and roots are harvested. Grass is harvested during flowering, from late June to September. Dry in the shade or in a well-ventilated dry area. The roots are harvested in autumn, from the end of September. They are thoroughly washed, chopped or cut into pieces, and also dried. Store prepared raw materials in paper or linen bags for no more than 2 years.

Honey thistle

Beekeepers appreciate the weed for its excellent honey qualities, which allow collecting about 1–120 kg of useful nectar from 140 ha. Thistle honey is considered first-class, as it has a good healing effect, has a delicate aroma and taste. It is worth noting that it crystallizes rather quickly, but this does not affect its quality in any way. Thistle honey is ideal for winter feeding, as bees willingly feast on this nectar at any time of the year.

Video “Weed control”

In this video, experts tell you how to get rid of weed grass in your summer cottage.

How to fight

If the weed is wound up in the garden or in the garden, then it is necessary to take action as soon as possible, because it is so tenacious that it can literally be reborn from a piece of root. To do this, there are both sparing and radical measures.

Agrotechnical methods

Imply the destruction of weeds exclusively mechanically:

• regular weeding of beds and careful pulling out of young shoots;
• deep digging of beds in spring and autumn with the extraction of all the remnants of weed roots;
• timely cleaning of plant residues from the garden;
• using agrofibre, roofing material or mulch on the beds – a dense shelter creates a high temperature, which stops the growth of weeds.

The grass has very deep roots, so it is not easy to pull it out. To facilitate this process, abundant watering of the beds before weeding will help. Mature plants are best dug up with a shovel. All weeding activities are recommended to be carried out before the seeds ripen on the bush.

chemical

The use of herbicides is justified only in very neglected areas that will not be planted with cultivated plants next year. Often, chemicals are applied to fields where it is not possible to manually remove each plant, but today more and more farmers are looking for alternative methods of weed control.

Herbicides such as “Hurricane”, “Tiron”, “Tornado”, “Optimum” and “Horizon” are more suitable for treating paths, empty areas and pointwise for the destruction of single-growing weeds.

Folk remedies

Since the weed has always caused a lot of trouble for gardeners, many interesting and relatively safe methods have been found:

• spraying with ammonia solution (1-5 bottles of ammonia were stirred in 6 bucket of water), after which the ground part died, and the rhizome was depleted;
• sowing wheat – the weed does not like the proximity to the cereal, and it stops growing;
• kerosene treatment – here, the main thing is to prevent kerosene from getting on vegetable crops;
• periodic pruning of the stem at the base and breaking off the flowers;
• sprinkling the area with salt – table salt prevents the growth of any weeds, but this method is more suitable for areas that are not planted with vegetables.

The success of weed control depends on what kind of care is provided for the site. If weeding and loosening the soil are carried out regularly, then the weeds do not have time to grow, and the garden pleases with a bountiful harvest. I would also like to recall the healing qualities of thistle, which have been known for a very long time. So if the site is overgrown with weeds, medicinal raw materials can be prepared from young plants.