I 've been spraying some fields over the last 3 weeks. I have one feild that has that green moss that's almost like a carpet. I've sprayed it with gly mixed 2 oz to a gallon the last 2 summers but it has not been very effective. What should I use to kill this stuff?

Pictures would help but if it is what I think you are talking about it is easily disked up. But it is a sign of poor soil.

Better soil conditions……if you have moss growing then you probably have soil issues. Fix the soil and the moss will go away. What’s the soil pH? Does the plot get plenty of sunlight?

The area has a decent amount of sun light. Its surrounded by river birtch and it has sandy soil in a creek bottom. I cleaned this area by hand and the stumps and roots have finally rotted enough to plant. Hard to judge this feild based on last year.Its well drained. It does breakup easily but it seems to choke out the seed. Idk what the ph is but I have been putting the lime to it. I may try to get some slag go it.

Quit guessing and do a soil test.

Call your local NRCS office and see if they can come look at it. A lot of times those guys are waiting for a phone call for something to do. I think a lot of lime is needed, but there might be something else to it.

As I said, pictures could help more knowledgeable people give you an answer than me. From what I recall (take that with a grain of salt) the soil issues are were easier for me to move off to elsewhere. I recall it as sandy, poorly drained. The problem was not rain but ground water. Always damp and lime seemed to leech out extra fast. Plants never seem to get where I wanted, yellowed quicker, and the animals didn't take to it as well. I'm lazy on soil test taking them every third year but did these every other year and it was like starting over again every 2 years. Yours may be different.

My guess on one possible soil issue if it isn't something like lime, etc.....is lack of adequate oxygen in the soil. Like centralala was saying, it may be the location that's giving you the most problems. I'd for sure pull a soil sample though and take some pics.

I agree with the lack of oxygen and is not unusual in wet ground. My parents have a place right now that I'm thinking is the problem. Lots of dead vegetation in a damp area that is usually dry in summer. I can move my plots but for someone who can't how do you measure oxygen?

I’d say through visual clues and just putting two and two together. The only way to really change anything about oxygen long term though is gonna be through improving the soil structure if possible. Keeping plant roots established and intact would probably help. Keeping organic matter levels high would also help. Tillage will probably make the problem worse over time. We need pore space between soil particles to alleviate oxygen issues. Technically I think its pore space between soil "aggregates".

Aeriating the ground would do more than any chemical process be it lime or whatever can fix. A disk or tiller may be best solution.

My first choice would to be move. 2nd I would try the aeration. Not deep. About 6-8 inches. All the while mixing in a little lime and fertilizer until reaching soil test recommendation. This SHOULD help the soil and in return rid it of moss and helping food plot. Or maybe not. Sometimes its just trial and error.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that lack of tillage is not the issue…..and more tillage is not gonna fix it. You know me and my soapbox though.

Here’s a diagram that I found that gives a little visual representation of what we’re talking about. The soil on the right is a tight, compacted soil with little pore space. When you till a field down until it nothing but sand….. then that pic is about what you end up with. You lose any structure and pore space because when the organic matter is gone and soil structure has been lost….there’s nothing but sand particles left to tightly pack together. You need the OM in order to form larger soil aggregates and create a structure that looks more like the soil on the left if you want good water and oxygen infiltration. Again though, like centrala is saying….the problem may be the area and its just holding to much ground water. In that case, moving is really the only solution I believe.

I'm not going into debate either CNC but sometimes you need to do some foundation tillage to set up a no till or reduced tillage program initially.

I completely agree. A hard compacted clay would be a good example of what you’re talking about. All I’m saying is that tillage is not the long term solution to an issue like this. If we till a sandy field like this to try and fix the moss problem....then we’ll be looking at the same exact thing next year unless we do something to change our management techniques afterwards. We’ll actually start to go backwards as any OM disappears and the situation gets worse.

IF...IF it is ground water, there won't be a hard pan therefore no need for deep tillage. All that would do is provide an avenue for the water to come up. That's why I say 6"-8" tillage. This will put oxygen in the soil. Doing several plowings should help.

If the food plotter has options of areas, simply digging down 2'-3' with posthole diggers can help determine where a plot should go. Also, clues like moss growing should be a red flag. Sometimes there are no other choices though.

One thing that we really need to know is…..What have you already done to the field in terms of tillage, etc? It sounds like he’s already tilling the field….which is my point that more tillage without a long-term change in strategy will only bring you right back to the point we’re at now.

Thanks for the feed back. I haven't tried to master this photo bucket thing yet but I'll get a pic of the moss and try to post it. I really don't want to move the feild because it is on one of the only high spots in this creek bottom. This property is on my grand mother's back 40 so it's worth it to me to to do whats necessary to fix the feild.

How often does the area flood? We had a river tract near Glenwood several years ago that wouldn't grow anything because it was too wet and it was sandy looking soil.

I understand and that's a good enough reason. The 2 oz/gal is about half rate on most vegetation. Try 4oz. Google killing ground moss. What surrounds the field can determine what spray can be used. Gly usually is one of the safest as far as other vegetation goes. Soil test. Do NOT stick with normal (wheat, clover, rape, etc.). Try different deer foods. Normal may end up being the best, maybe not. Trial and error. This will probably be a marathon and not a sprint. Good luck!