Planting a giant ragweed plot and why you should

Giant Ragweed not generally thought of as a forage item. However, after my horses decimated a plot of it last spring, I did some research on it. Turns out it is a really good forage item and the rabbits love it.

This was taken from this pdf on deer forages in southern oklahoma. There are other possible forage items listed as well. It makes for an interesting read. https://www.noble.org/global/ag/wildlif ... ersion.pdf



As you can see CP is quite high all year from over 30% to just under 20%. Depending on the time of year. TDN is also quite good. With 70% being the lowest. Compair to Alfalfa with hay with CP of about 18% and TDN of around 60%.

Last fall I decided to plant some giant ragweed closer to the house. I started gathering seeds but it quickly turned quite tedious as not all seeds are ready at the same time on the same plant. So, I got lazy and just chopped a bunch of the plants down (they were along road) and laid them out in where I wanted them to grow.

I wasn't sure if it would work or not. I did not prepare the soil at all. The soil in this area is also not very good. It is mostly clay with a bit of sand on top. I can definitely see a difference between this area and what is growing along the edge of the garden that has been amended with rabbit manure. Those plants are much much taller. Ragweed has deep roots, so I'm hoping it will break up the clay a bit as well. I inter-planted some lablab (forage hyacinth bean) the other day which is a nitrogen fixer and it's starting to sprout. I'm hoping all together it makes a very interesting food plot.

Here is a shot of the plot.



And here is a close up of a bunch of ragweed seedlings starting to come up. In the areas that have better soil /lower soil acidity. The plants are about 2 ft tall.



Something interesting I have discovered about ragweed, is if you cut the plant back to the bottom branches, it causes the plant to really bush out and create more branches. I'm interested to see how often you can cut back a plant and still have it grow.

Interesting. Have you had any allergy reactions? That would be my only concern.

No, I haven't and I have alot of allergy problems. Mine seems to be mostly tree pollen and mold, however. You might try handling a bit and see if you react (keep benadryl at the ready). It has been known to cause contact dermatitis which I should have mentioned in my post and it slipped my mind.

I also forgot to mention that the seeds are extremely high in protein. Something like 47% protein. They are one of the foods of choice for bob white quail. I'm looking forward to seeing how my chickens like this this fall.

If you have a few seeds to spare, I would be very interested in trying it and see how it does down here. I am looking to expand my rabbit garden.

I didn't save any seeds from last year. There used to be a pheasant place where you could buy seed but apparently they only sell a food plot mix now.

I've never seen that species growing here, but there is some kind of smaller ragweed that grows near the rabbitry. The rabbits absolutely adore it.
I've been feeding it to the herd since last summer, and so far, not one digestive upset from the bunnies. I'll have to see if quail like it after it sets seed...

The seedlings photos I posted don't actually show a good image of what the larger plant looks like. They need to be a bit larger to get their distinctive leaves. Large plants are pretty easy to recognize.

In good soil the plants can get HUGE. They say a really thick stand of it in a corn field will stop a combine. It's one of those plants like Jerusalem artichoke. Only plant it if your really sure you want it. It's not a big deal around here as it is everywhere anyway. I just wanted some off the road.

You can also chop it and use if for mulch in a garden. Here is a post where a guy shows how he used it for mulch.

http://permaculturenews.org/2014/06/20/ ... ng-choice/

I think I may be infatuated with this unloved plant.

I have it here and it is trying mightily to take over the driveway up near the porch where it never gets parked on. most of the stuff is up over my head. I usually take handfuls as I walk up to the rabbits. now and then I take out some big scissors or machete and chop a bunch. rabbits love it.

if it's like regular ragweed it will keep coming back and bushing out forever.

I don't know if what we have here is 'giant' or not but since it is to my shoulder and face height it is giant enough for me!

Here, Ragweed of any type is one of the most hated invasive spieces, lots of people suffer allergies. I wouldn't be exactly considered a good neighbour would I plant a nice patch of this stuff :lol:

Preitler":2eorn9sc said:

Here, Ragweed of any type is one of the most hated invasive spieces, lots of people suffer allergies. I wouldn't be exactly considered a good neighbour would I plant a nice patch of this stuff :lol:

Click to expand...

You'd just need to keep it cut back so it didn't bloom. :mrgreen: :twisted: :lol:

Of course that would mean you'd have to source seed every fall.