Palmer Amaranth and Waterhemp
Last week, we thought we had one new major weed in Putnam County, now we know we have three major noxious weeds: Palmer, Spiny, and Waterhemp. Steve Prochaska, Area Agronomist for OSU Extension and I found Palmer Amaranth on one farm near Continental, Spiny Amaranth on two farms in the Sugar Creek flood plains near Kalida, and Waterhemp at one site near Continental along the road and near a corn field. Even worse, upon further inspection, all the plants now have viable black seeds which are extremely small (tip of a pen). Pigweed has both male and female plants, so the plants can cross pollinate with our native pigweed and they have a lot of hybrid vigor. They are highly adaptable and can be extremely hard to control. Yield losses as high as 80-90% may be common on fields where the weeds are not controlled. Farmers should be on the lookout for strange patches of weeds or even single weeds. Contact the Putnam County Extension office if you have a strange weed you want identified at 419-...