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The control of bracken with the herbicide Asulox has been the subject of a time critical approval by authorities.
Bracken is a highly successful plant of the fern family. Most often found in loam soils with high acidity, they have adapted to their surroundings and can spread unchecked to colonise entire areas of forest, heath and moorland. Reduced grazing area is not the only concern with the danger to health of humans and grazing animals uppermost in landowners minds. Bracken contains carcinogens and the fronds can be highly toxic to sheep, horses and cattle with symptoms ranging from vitamin B deficiency to blindness and even sudden death.
The bracken spreads quickly via rhizome roots and range in depth from 1 m to surface rooted from which the fronds of a new plant will appear.
Asulox is a translocated herbicide which has been proven to be the most effective product at controlling bracken. The plant should be treated when the fronds are fully open from May onwards and before senescence - which is when bracken naturally starts to dieback before winter. The plant will display no outward signs of treatment at the time but reduced vigour and spread the following year.
Best used with a non-ionic wetter such as Warrior and Amvista blue dye for clearly marking treated areas – Asulox can be applied from the 1st July, purchased until 14 September and must be used by the end of October to comply with the emergency legislation.
This year’s legislation is now approved and a limited production run is being done by the manufacturers. So if Asulox is a product that you are wanting it is recommended to pre-order Asulox 5 L and 20 litres become available towards the end of June.
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