What is this weed and how to get ride of it

[JustAnotherFarang]

Hi Guys

 

After the rainy season here I have noticed that this weed has taken hold and started to spread out around my grass lawn, especially where the grass has thinned out.  It seems to be spreading rapidly and when I pull it out of the soil it doesnt seem to have an individual rooting system which is worrying as I dont want it to spread.  Any ideas what it is and how should I go about removing it.

[White Christmas13]

Just dry it and smoke it 

[kickstart]

It is ผักอีแปะ  in Thai ,or  Frog  Bit, Hydrocharis Dubia (Blume) Baker .

As you said  it likes the rain we have  some about the place ,if you keep pulling at it ,it will  stop growing ,now we are in the middle of October ,we probably had most of the rains ,( unless you are  us in the central  region), things will start to dry out  it might go  on its own accord .

When the lawn  dry out a bit give it a  good spiking, it will help aerate  the lawn , I would say where the grass has thinned out  ,could well  be wet, it would  help drainage to ,  dry it out  and might  help prevent it coming back .

 

[JustAnotherFarang]

18 hours ago, kickstart said:

It is ผักอีแปะ  in Thai ,or  Frog  Bit, Hydrocharis Dubia (Blume) Baker .

As you said  it likes the rain we have  some about the place ,if you keep pulling at it ,it will  stop growing ,now we are in the middle of October ,we probably had most of the rains ,( unless you are  us in the central  region), things will start to dry out  it might go  on its own accord .

When the lawn  dry out a bit give it a  good spiking, it will help aerate  the lawn , I would say where the grass has thinned out  ,could well  be wet, it would  help drainage to ,  dry it out  and might  help prevent it coming back .

 

Thanks Kickstart, very informative posting.  I havent spiked my lawn for 2 years as I cannot find the right tool to do it.  Its about 1/2 rai in size so need something like a garden fork or something better to do it.  Any suggestions?

 

JAF

[cooked]

Spiking the lawn correctly will be good for the lawn but not do much to get rid of the weed. Spiking is meant to aerate the soil and should be done with a hollow tine fork, the likes of which has never been seen in Thailand. (Maybe golf club green keepers have something). Using a fork just compacts the soil around the hole, which should be filled with sand anyway.

As mentioned, Hydrocharis is essentially an aquatic plant and should disappear when things dry out, which doesn't mean that its roots won't survive the drought. Anyway, something like this rake would do the job for pulling out most of this beast. Myself if I was fanatical about lawn care I would find a broad leaf herbicide such as is used by rice farmers and try a small corner.

[kickstart]

2 hours ago, cooked said:

Spiking the lawn correctly will be good for the lawn but not do much to get rid of the weed. Spiking is meant to aerate the soil and should be done with a hollow tine fork, the likes of which has never been seen in Thailand. (Maybe golf club green keepers have something). Using a fork just compacts the soil around the hole, which should be filled with sand anyway.

As mentioned, Hydrocharis is essentially an aquatic plant and should disappear when things dry out, which doesn't mean that its roots won't survive the drought. Anyway, something like this rake would do the job for pulling out most of this beast. Myself if I was fanatical about lawn care I would find a broad leaf herbicide such as is used by rice farmers and try a small corner.

cooked

         Would a bit of lime  help ? ,thinking ,a lot of aquatic  type  plants  like an acid soil .lift the ph.  a bit ,will not get rid/kill the weeds .but it might  slow them down a bit ,and Thai soil"s  being just about short  of everything  they is  ,would not do it any harm .

[cooked]

Blimey. No idea what pH value Hypocharis prefers. According to Google, they prefer acid environments. Give it a try. In 40 years of lawn care I never had to tackle this weed. Don't ask me how much to dose!

 

[JustAnotherFarang]

I am on my hands and knees plucking the little buggers out left right and centre and then it starts to rain again.  I would say its taken quite a hold because my wifes friend gave us some orchids on an old tree stump that came from her forest residence.  At first I only saw a few leaves but I turned my back on it for a few weeks and then it took hold.  I hope its something I can get under control but I have put some nitrogen down to encourage more grass growth as in that particular area it was looking a little yellow and sparse.  Knowing my luck, it will only help the little blighter to sprout more.

 

Does anyone know where I might be able to get some quality gardening tools from, preferably online or through the post as I am down south in the middle of a rainforest and dont often venture upto the big smoke.

 

JAF

[cooked]

1 hour ago, JustAnotherFarang said:

I am on my hands and knees plucking the little buggers out left right and centre and then it starts to rain again.  I would say its taken quite a hold because my wifes friend gave us some orchids on an old tree stump that came from her forest residence.  At first I only saw a few leaves but I turned my back on it for a few weeks and then it took hold.  I hope its something I can get under control but I have put some nitrogen down to encourage more grass growth as in that particular area it was looking a little yellow and sparse.  Knowing my luck, it will only help the little blighter to sprout more.

 

Does anyone know where I might be able to get some quality gardening tools from, preferably online or through the post as I am down south in the middle of a rainforest and dont often venture upto the big smoke.

 

JAF

You are having fun, I might mention that one of the important steps in preventing weeds is regular mowing at the correct height and adequate fertiliser. Try downloading a catalogue from http://www.cromwell.co.th/catalogue.html#ht . 

They have a lot of tools that are otherwise difficult to get hold of in Thailand, maybe they have what you want.

[JustAnotherFarang]

13 hours ago, cooked said:

You are having fun, I might mention that one of the important steps in preventing weeds is regular mowing at the correct height and adequate fertiliser. Try downloading a catalogue from http://www.cromwell.co.th/catalogue.html#ht . 

They have a lot of tools that are otherwise difficult to get hold of in Thailand, maybe they have what you want.

Thank you for that link, I shall peruse it after I have finished in the garden before lunch.  

 

JAF