Ghost
Well-known member
Humm, In preparing to write this, I Wikipedia-ed Johnson grass. That is when I at least understood why it is hated by so many people. That said, when I feed it to rabbits and guinea pigs in the future, I will check for wilting.
As for causing "bloat" due to "excessive nitrates", I am not sure whether this is a problem limited to ruminates or if cecumates are also susceptible. I do know that switching feeds in rabbits is more challenging that switching in guinea pigs.
Up until the first freeze (late October), the roadside growth was doing well, and it may still recover before December. My problem this year is that David paid people to weed-whack and they destroyed most Johnson grass on his property. This leaves me to only road side collection. This year was pretty dry post-July and other kinds of grass were dry, short and generally not conducive to collection. However the road-side stands were healthy.
It did lead me to think is there a way to get it to grow in a place where you want it rather than just in places you don't. From my rudimentary observations, I noticed three things. Johnson grass seams to hate shade and semi-shaded locations. It seams to hate mowing and weed-whacking. It also seems that "maintenance" by prairie dogs prevents tall Johnson grass. I'm not sure that I can convince David to leave a place for Johnson grass next year, but if he did, his GPs would find it a bonus.
Anyone here experiment in cultivating Johnson grass on purpose?
As for causing "bloat" due to "excessive nitrates", I am not sure whether this is a problem limited to ruminates or if cecumates are also susceptible. I do know that switching feeds in rabbits is more challenging that switching in guinea pigs.
Up until the first freeze (late October), the roadside growth was doing well, and it may still recover before December. My problem this year is that David paid people to weed-whack and they destroyed most Johnson grass on his property. This leaves me to only road side collection. This year was pretty dry post-July and other kinds of grass were dry, short and generally not conducive to collection. However the road-side stands were healthy.
It did lead me to think is there a way to get it to grow in a place where you want it rather than just in places you don't. From my rudimentary observations, I noticed three things. Johnson grass seams to hate shade and semi-shaded locations. It seams to hate mowing and weed-whacking. It also seems that "maintenance" by prairie dogs prevents tall Johnson grass. I'm not sure that I can convince David to leave a place for Johnson grass next year, but if he did, his GPs would find it a bonus.
Anyone here experiment in cultivating Johnson grass on purpose?