WEEDAX Industrial & Agriculture Weed Control for Curled Dock, Injurious & Invasive Weeds

The curled dock occurs in arable and meadowland, waste places, on sand dunes, and shingle. It is the more common dock in arable land especially on drier soils. Curled dock is universally distributed in Britain but is more a plant of clay, chalk or gravel than light sandy soils. Docks are common on soils deficient in potassium, and on soils rich in nitrogen. However, research results are contradictory on whether there is a link between dock populations and the level of soil potassium. Fewer docks may occur on fields subject to flooding, cutting for hay or grazing by sheep. However, studies have shown that curled dock is resistant to flooding and can survive 8 weeks of submergence

Curled Dock is an injurious weed proscribed under the Weeds Act 1959 and must be controlled in agricultural land. Allowing the seed to disperse is an offence.

Curled Dock

Curled dock reproduces from seed and by vegetative regeneration of the underground organs. The seeds are capable of surviving in undisturbed soil for more than 70 years and seed numbers in soil have been estimated at 5 million per acre. The seeds contain a chemical that inhibits microbial decay

IDENTIFICATION

Petals enclosing fruit c 4.5 mm long. Whorls of fruit crowded together, enclosed by 3 hardened petals that each have a white tubercle and do not have projecting teeth.

Leaf-blades long and narrow (even those near the base, when full-grown, over 4x as long as broad) with margins undulating up and down. .

Wood Dock and Clustered Dock may also have all 3 petals with tubercles, but their petals are only c 3 mm long, and their inflorescence has a totally different appearance being well-branched, sparsely whorled, and altogether delicate-looking compared to the robust and crowded look of this species.

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