Common Groundsel [Senecio vulgaris]

About the pest

Description

It is a short hairy annual, 10 - 40cm tall. The stem is upright with loose cut leaves. The flowerhead, which contains a number of daisy-like flowers, may curve over.

Flower: The sepal-like bracts outside the flowerheads have black tips.

Seed longevity: >5 years
Germination depth: 2 cm
Seed weight: 0.29 mg
Seeds/head: 40
Seeds/plant: 2000 - 3500


Symptoms & Diagnosis

Occurence

Groundsel is common in arable fields. With a short lifespan it is able to produce several generations in one year. Although increasingly found in autumn and spring arable crops because of its abundance in fallows, it is seldom a major problem. Groundsel may increase in stubble-sown crops, as it successfully colonises firm seedbeds. Seeds germinate throughout the whole year and in a good year plants shed seeds by early June which can give rise to more than one generation a year. Plants are able to overwinter. The seeds can be dispersed by wind, but the wetted fruits become sticky and can be carried by animals or humans.


Treatment

Prevention

Groundsel is controlled by some residual herbicides but can reappear in open crops in spring, where it is susceptible to a wide range of foliar herbicides. It is a nuisance in perennial crops where herbicides choices are limited.

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