Oxeye Daisy
Leucanthemum vulgare
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DESCRIPTION
Oxeye daisy is a perennial weed common in waste areas and roadsides, but also often found in poorer or wetter dairy pastures. It’s not generally a problem in sheep pastures because sheep will readily eat it.
It’s a difficult plant to control where no sheep are present, because it is not very susceptible to selective herbicides commonly used in pastures, such as MCPA and 2,4-D.
Oxeye daisy has conspicuous white flowers, up to 6cm in diameter with bright yellow centres. The plant is a rosette at the base, but grows quite tall (much taller than the regular daisy) during the main flowering period from August to May, when the flowers appear at the end of clumps of long upright leafy stems.
The leaves are dark green, nearly hairless, and are deeply lobed. The rosette leaves at the base of the flowering stems are up to 12cm long by 2cm wide and appear on stalks, while the leaves on the flowering stems are smaller, narrower and have no stalks. The root system consists of short rhizomes, which contributes to the difficulty of control.
As well as the smaller common daisy, the oxeye daisy can be confused with stinking mayweed and scentless chamomile due to the similar flowers, but both of these species have distinctly different, very finely divided leaflets.
PHYSICAL CONTROL
HERBICIDE CONTROL
Get rid of Oxeye Daisy. See the options below.
Boom Spraying Herbicides to Kill Oxeye Daisy
Both Rainbow & Brown MCPA750 and MCPB are largely ineffective. WHACK – 2,4D 800 boom spraying is reported to give some control, but the plants often recover and regrow. The preferred time to boom spray oxeye daisy is in the spring, when the plants are actively growing. Ralid will be effective in killing Oxeye Daisy. Spraying with Ranger Herbicide (see below) has been reported by many farmers to produce good results through to the end of summer as well.
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GrassMate sprayed at 2L/Ha is effective and grass-friendly, but will also result in clover damage.
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Ranger Herbicide, when sprayed at 20g/ Ha in the spring to control docks and buttercups, is reported to have the added benefit of also controlling oxeye daisy, though there may be some regrowth. Spraying with Ranger Herbicide can be also done through to late summer. Die-off for most target weeds will be slower than spring, and a follow-up treatment may be required.
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Decision – 65g/Ha will suppress oxeye daisy at seedling stage. A good option if you have lots of buttercup.
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Dicamba 500 Select – 120-140ml /100L + WHACK – 2,4-D 800 – 540ml / 100L will also kill seedlings but will kill clover.
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Ralid herbicide sprayed alone – 1L/Ha, or added to WHACK – 2,4-D 800 – 90-180ml of Ralid per hectare, will suppress oxeye daisy, but will result in some clover damage.
Spot Spray Herbicides to Kill Oxeye Daisy
- GrassMate spot sprayed at 6ml/L with a knapsack but giving coverage of 30m2/L. Grass friendly but will kill clover
- MSF600 spot sprayed at 5g/100L using a handgun, or 1g/10L in a knapsack. Will kill grass and clover and is slow to kill but very cost effective.
- Ralid herbicide spot sprayed at 100ml/100L using a high volume gun, or at 25ml/10L in a knapsack.
Wetter/Penetrant should be used when spraying Oxeye Daisy
Weed Wiping Weed Killers to Control Oxeye Daisy
Where terrain allows and the oxeye plants are in their erect stage, weed wiping is an excellent solution to the problem of avoiding clover damage
- Glyphosate applied in a weed wiper at 1 part glyphosate to 2 parts water.
- MSF600 applied in a weed wiper at 2-3g/L of water.
- As always read the product label and follow those instructions
