[APWG] Try some Special K plots plus poppies

[Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company]

 Dear Wayne and All,

Thanks for your email.  The results of the <Special K> treatment is from
doing exsitu test plots with soil from the Arastradero Preserve here in
Palo Alto, where the local wildlands park is fighting a massive Ital.
thistle and Medusahead grass infestation.

When I saw the aerial photos of the 70 acre infestation, you could see
that the dried exotic annual grass leaves seen from a few hundred feet up,
had the typical look of potassium staved grasses--you can see photos of
that condition in the classic book, Hunger Signs in Crops, which is in at
least two editions with great color photos.

So I added different fertilizers plus California poppy seeds as my native
choice, and the potassium+poppies produced the best results.  We call
these the po-po plots for potassium and poppies.

I have been using this technique of testing weedy areas with exsitu test
plots since I worked on the 600 acres of native grasslands in the Great
Basin in 1994, and got 99% native plant cover, and very close to zero
cheatgrass.

I have also set up some exsitu test plots this month from Southern
California Endangered species habitat soil, that is so weed choked that
the Listed species are being impacted by the weeds, and the ripgut grass
is coming up in my plots at the rate of 62 million seedlings per acre.

What the purpose of my plots, is to calculate what the cost per acre will
be for the fertilizers and the native seeds and other materials to convert
the weeds back to natives, on 40,000 acres ultimately,

I set up the exsitu plots on the first of November, and two weeks later I
am already getting excellent result that will guide me to find methods to
suppress the weeds by 99%, and hopefully get at least 50% native plant
cover by February 1.

It only took an hour to set up 15 different treatments, and within only
two weeks, seeing some very good results.  It costs very little in time
and money to set up these plots, and the results might surprise you.

Why I am posting this information to the two list servers, is anyone who
has an annual or biennial weed problem in the wildlands, or highway
departments for weeds growing along the roadside--still have time to get
some Potassium sulfate and some California poppy seed or some other local
native seeds, and see if this might work for you too.

The Special K treatment with poppies may be the cheapest method per acre,
to convert a seemingly impossible weed problem, back to local native
cover.

And by doing these experiments, may help change our view of some of these
weeds--from invasive enemies, to helpful indicators,  trying to tell us,
that we need to make a deposit in the soil nutrient bank, after 100-200
years of our grazing animals taking it away.

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333