Examples of thistle

• Three mowings per season provide a better thistle control than two mowings.

• The biggest part of such emerged thistles was covered by the already fast developed clover plants.

• This initial thistle density was the basis for the efficacy determination of all control measures.

• Other studies have demonstrated the importance of a dense competitive crop stand for successful thistle suppression12,13.

• Repeated mowing of forage such as alfalfa or legume-grass mixtures can severely reduce thistle density.

• The need for the latter is also emphasized by the frequent choice of thistle seed cake and malt culms as potential feedstuffs.

• One can assume, that particularly under water stress, repeatedly disturbed and seriously weakened thistles were no longer able to emerge in our experiment.

• Only a few thistles in several patches grew undisturbed.