MANHATTAN, Kan. -- It’s not too late to treat sericea lespedeza on Kansas farms this fall, but treatments should be applied soon, according to a Kansas State University agronomist.

“Many sericea plants across Kansas are still blooming,” said K-State Research and Extension range management specialist Walt Fick of the noxious weed. “Sericea is still susceptible to herbicides if treated at the full bloom stage and for a couple weeks afterward. Spot-spraying with Remedy Ultra and PastureGard can be effective even at a late bloom stage, but products containing metsulfuron, such as Escort XP and Cimarron Plus are often more effective as flowering ends and seed pods appear and begin to fill.”  

Sericea plants can be killed until frost, but if pod fill has begun, viable seed will still be produced, Fick said. Grasslands with sericea lespedeza infestations should not be grazed or hayed after the sericea has gone to seed. This will only serve to spread the seed to other areas.

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