Topic: When to rotivate a new plot

[Barnowl]

I've found a bit more on it :

"Actually this information is in our printed catalogue on page 35 in the year 2000 version. Marigolds all produce toxic root secretions which help them to overcome competition from plants trying to grow in the same area. The most effective species is Tagetes minuta, with the common name of Mexican marigold. It grows very tall and in this way also adds shading out of its competitors to its arsenal of self defense. It has tiny flowers -hence the latin name "minuta" but these are only produced in very long season regions.

Most marigolds also have an unpleasant odour that also seems to be unpleasant to insect noses. They are therefore used to repel insects like mosquitoes.

The underground secretions are also toxic to nematodes and the plant is therefore used to reduce the populations of this pest in garden plots.

Weeds that have a hard time growing near Mexican marigold because of the root secretions and the shading, are such hard to eradicate weeds as ground elder, bindweed, couch grass and ground ivy. This effect spreads about 90 centimeters (3 feet) from the base of the plant."

http://www.richters.com/newdisplay.cgi?page=./QandA/Aromatic/20000302-1.html&cart_id=81.1496

If it only flowers late or not at all, it's hard to see how it would propagate itself well enough to be a weed.

[Merry Tiller]

Keef, this will be my last posting on the matter

1. I in fact said "May, June, June and July at 3 week intervals", too difficult to understand?

2. The glyphosate trick was passed on to me by the council parks guys, I never said I used the method and I wouldn't recommend it, got that? well done

3. Whether or not I grow organically is irrelevant as far as I can see, firstly it has no bearing on the original question and secondly it's none of your business, although I doubt 2 peoples definition of organic allotmenteering would be the same anyhow, do you ever drive a car to the allotment/garden centre? Are all your seed packets made from recycled paper? blah, blah, blah

You are now joining my kill-file, you have a very rude & bullying way of expressing yourself, I would not tolerate it face to face and will not do so on this message board

[Barnowl]

One last thing since it's all getting a bit fractious.  :o 

Start as soon as you can and, if you are going to dig / rotovate over the autumn and winter without planting, invest in some weed suppressing membrane / black polythene sheeting and bricks to hold it down with.

Then you can mulch  and cover the bits you've dug and leave them until you have decided what to plant and when.

Good luck.  We went through it when we got the allotment in March this year. Lot of effort to begin with but very exciting when you get your first harvest.

[keef]

opps' looks like i've upset someone.. soz. ;)

[greyhound]

"IMFFHO" says it all, IMHO.  :-\

[Merry Tiller]

Far from all surely

[keef]

Someone tell him i've sent im a PM, he's plonked me so i expect he wont get it.

[ThomsonAS]

ABout a year ago (after I'd had my plot a year) I was so dispirited at the pace at which you can dig whilst removing couch and bindweed that I thought 'sod it' and hired a rotavator and did the half I'd not dug.

And was pretty liberal with the Roundup too.

Not one of my better moves! It looked OK for a few weeks but then the d**n Mares tail moved in to where the weaker nuisances had been.

Good luck whatever you choose - and hey, let's lighten up about this!

[Roy Bham UK]

Roy, The Report was published in the late 1950s or very early 1960s.  It was discussed in one of the horticultural magazines of the day, and I sent my postal order to Rothamstead and obtained a summary. The findings were complete and unequivocal, and also explained to me why my own heavy clay was heavier and stickier than before I started using the machine. Unfortunately I lent it my copy to a nurseryman of my acquaintance several years later and never saw it again.

Well I think the report is poppycock, I can remember whey back in the 60's when I helped my Dad on his plot, he wasn't "Organic" in fact he used all the chemicals that are banned now and used a "Rotovator" as did nearly all the other lottie holders that new no better in those days and produced some good crops albeit contaminated with chemicals. ::)

I am "Rotovating/Tilling" the same land almost 50 years on and it is still producing healthy crops even tho without the chemicals. :P

So on that basis I don't think it makes an ounce of difference if you "Rotovate" or not. ::)

I also think you were a bit naughty going back to edit your post without pointing it out, >:(  therefore making my reply look a bit naive. :(

[Robert_Brenchley]

I don't know why this is turning into such a heated discussion. I wouldn't want one myself, but neighbours of mine use rotavators and get good results. Each to his own.

[Merry Tiller]

It all, of course, happened before you were born.

???

[Artisan]

Can I add my take on this as a newbie?  I think that for someone who has just taken over a new plot, faced with a jungle of weeds that would dishearten the most avid "digger", perhaps the best approach is to spray with glyphosate, probably twice, and when the weeds can be seen to have died down, then rotavate.  This will bring the plot to a good starting point for cultivation.  It will also have loosened the soil so that it can be dug if so chosen much more easily.  I like to think of myself as an organic gardener, but when faced with problems like this, it sometimes pays to be pragmatic, and reach for the chemical. 

Maybe it depends how keen the person is, I know if I was faced with this, digging would soon cause me to lose heart, and maybe be the end of my allotmenteering days.  If you don't have a cast iron constitution, don't be afraid to take the easy way out!!

As for timing, I would suggest using glyphosate now, and again in about 3 weeks time, which should kill most of the weeds by about 6 weeks time, mid novemeberish.  Any time after that should be fine to rotavate, bearing in mind that if you have heavy clay soil, the tines on your rotavator may become clogged, and next to useless, so try to get it done before the ground becomes too boggy.

Hope that made some sense  :-\