Weed · Sugar beet, sunflower, garlic and onion
Fat hen and pigweed: the patches, before they set seed
Chenopodium album and Amaranthus spp.
Both are broadleaf summer weeds that leave thousands of seeds per plant. We fly the crop while it is still small and mark where there are patches between the rows.
We have not flown this problem ourselves yet. We work it out with you, on your field.
The problem
One plant today, a seed bank tomorrow
Fat hen (lambsquarters) has leaves that look dusted with white flour, especially the young ones, and can grow taller than 1 metre (3 ft). Pigweed (amaranth) has a pink or red root, a coarse stem and dense spikes. Both compete with the crop, and some plants escape the sprays.
The real problem is the seed. A large plant of either can produce tens of thousands of seeds, which stay viable in the soil for several years. The plants that escape this year top up the seed bank for the years that follow.
How it works
A flight while the crop is small
1
We fly low
With the crop young and the rows open, at 30 metres (about 100 ft) or lower, when the green patch between the rows can be told apart. In sugar beet and sunflower it shows up well; in garlic and onion, with the weeds still small, it is harder.
2
We send you the map
Patches of weeds between the rows, with their position. Which species it is gets confirmed on foot.
3
You act on the patches
Spray or hoe where the weeds are, before they set seed.
Pigweed comes up in stages all summer. A second flight later shows what escaped, even if those plants no longer cost you yield this year.
Where it shows up
Where they show up
- Sugar beet
- Sunflower
- Garlic
- Onion
What farmers ask us
Fat hen and pigweed: your field questions
Why do I get pigweed in the middle of summer?
Because they do not all come up at once: they keep emerging all summer from the top layer of the soil.
Can the drone tell fat hen from pigweed?
Not with certainty. What you see from above is a green patch outside the row. The species is confirmed by walking into the patch.
Which product should I use?
It depends on the crop, and what is authorised changes from year to year. Before you spray, check in your country’s official pesticide register that the product is approved for your crop (in the UK, the HSE register of authorised products; in the US, the label registered with the EPA and your state), or ask us. We do not recommend products.
Know someone this would help?
Send them this page. If they have fat hen and pigweed in their fields, you save them some searching.