Topic: bindweed

[ACE]

I know it goes by a lot of other names but, 'Bindweed' sums it up perfectly.I don't know if it was a perfect growing season for it this summer, or perhaps they have thrived on the nourishment I had put in the  border, but the stuff I dug up today was so strong I could not break it by just pulling it. Sometimes it was just one strand and they were unbreakable. I actually tripped up on one bit.

I have removed all my plants with a nice rootball and am keeping them in carrier bags while I strip the bed, they should be alright for a few days. Now I have dug the bed over once and cleaned out the bindweed as best I can. Tomorrow I shall dig it over again, once again cleaning as I go, then when I dig in the manure I shall clean it again before I replant.

The plants have also done really well this year and I am going to lose another bit of lawn and extend the border so I can split all the plants up remove the bindweed that is in the rootball and replant them. I know I will not get rid of all the bindweed as just one little bit of root will turn into a plant but as soon as it rears its head next year I will spot them with weedkiller and hope it is not so strong as this year

[saddad]

It does succumb to repeated digging.... it's when people loose heart or leave it alone that it replenishes itself!
 ::)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Parts of my plot were solid with the roots when I first got it. It's now almost gone. Just keep at it, and get as much root as you can out every time you dig. It soon ceases to be a serious menace as long as you never let up.

[ACE]

Repeated digging is not really an option as this is a flower bed that will not be dug again until this time next year. I will be hoeing when needed but it was my own fault this year as I knew I was going to replant the bed and let it go a bit too far and I think the warm autumn  kept it growing longer than usual. Some of the bindweed  was still budding and had plenty of flowers on it. (nice flowers, shame about the plant).

[Robert_Brenchley]

Major digging once a year is all mine ever got, plus a bit of rooting out with a trowel when the opportunity offered.

[supersprout]

After a year's suppression with black plastic it's satisfying to haul up those nests of fat white roots. After mulching, when any pops up I scrobble down and pull up the weed as far down as possible, and throw it on top of the mulch to die and add its nutrients to the mulch. Like Robert says, if you keep twinking the green tops off, it gets to be no more trouble than an annual weed.

[ACE]

Dug it over again today,cleaned and manured, but before I done anything I give it a dose of stirrup with my Nomix lance.  Nomix Stirrup is a good weedkiller which neutralises on contact with the soil but kills any plants it hits. The plot will be fit to plant again tomorrow.

Before you all jump and shout about using weedkiller, I have been extensively  trained in the use of loads of different herbicides and am 'licenced to kill'.

Wrong time of year really and most of you would be wasting your money if you were using weedkiller now, but down here on the south island things are still growing.

[jennym]

Hate the stuff  ;D
For info: http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/smf/index.php?topic=19738.msg202970#msg202970

[calendula]

Before you all jump and shout about using weedkiller, I have been extensively  trained in the use of loads of different herbicides and am 'licenced to kill'.

licenced to kill indeed - a neighboring plot to one of mine which has languished in weeds for several years now has just been taken over recently - hooray we thought but then the notices went up saying that he had sprayed copiously - when I was there a couple of weeks ago, the day after this spraying had taken place I could smell it every time i walked past scowling but forgot about it until later that day when I developed the most awful cough I have ever had, it lasted all the next day as well - probably the phenol but crikes is that stuff dangerous  :o

[ACE]

That is the very reason I was trained. Just spashing it on, and a bit for luck is very dangerous. The dosage per acre has to be adhered to vigorously and a record written down. Other people can come along and without knowing the regulations spray another chemical which could cause an adverse affect.

It is against the law to use herbicides in public places  unless you are trained and qualified to use the stuff. Also a lot of the chemicals have been banned. Watch your plot carefully, demand to know what they have used, DO NOT HAVE A FIRE OR SMOKE NEAR IT. The fumes can sometimes be very carcengenic if heated. It might have been something he found in the back of the shed that should have been disposed of at a certified chemical disposal site.

If your cough persists see a doctor.