Topic: weeds in raised beds

[marc555]

I recently got an allotment in march and have done loads of work to get it the way it is now, i have 8 raised beds all full with different things the weeds between cabbage, caulifower etc are easy to get out but in 2 beds i have a row of onions then a row of carrots then onions and so on but how can i weed without disturbing the carrot seeds as there are alot of little weeds coming through pulling them out 1 by 1 would take hours

[simmo116]

i have the same problem i've sown parsnips with radish markers  but ive got tons of weeds coming between them unfortunatly the only remedy i found is getting stuck in and hand pulling them. i also have a lovely raised bed in which im growing onions and marestail! the mares tail has even pushed out a few onions. i hoe off but there back bigger and stronger the following week,once the onions have been croped i intend to double dig down removing the earth and putting a good weed suppresent down then as i put the soil back ill sieve it to get rid of all the mares tail.

[SPUDLY]

Hi simmo116,

I didn't know until i googled it, but there is a difference between marestail and horsetail. Have a look here

http://www.sherriff-amenity.co.uk/technical.asp?newsid=3

Think what you have is horsetail, we have it on our site too. It says the roots can go down as deep as 5 feet :o

[simmo116]

looks like im moving to australia then!!!...

[SPUDLY]

Poor chap with the allotment at the bottom of mine, has half a plot covered in the stuff :o Chatting to him the other day while he was trying roundup. Looking at it now, it doesn't look like it's touched it.

[simmo116]

i heard someone once say that the actually injected  round up neat int the stem not sure what the result was but the ammount of horse tail ive got it would take weeks.

[SPUDLY]

Think it says that horsetail has a waxy coating on the plant that stops weedkiller from soaking into it. They say that crushing the tops before you spray helps.

[Tin Shed]

So far I am only getting a few horsetail spikes coming up on my plot - it is all round the site in varying degrees, but I am determined to try and keep it at bay!!
When one does appear, I slit it open lengthways and then spray with Roundup and so far they die off quickly - but obviously this is not possible if you have loads of it.
Somewhere I read you could make a fungicide from the leaves so perhaps we should grow it as a crop ;)

[kingston boy]

Quite honestly that is not a good idea. 3 seasons ago the man next to me spent literally all the winter season digging and double digging and sieving the soil. His plot looked amazing.Alas, the weeds had nice soft soil to germinate in giving him the run around of trying to keep the weeds at bay while digging out the marestail. By the end of the 2nd season he decided that it was starting to be just as bad if not worse. Finally he conceded defeat and left the site. Now the young lad who has the plot is already learning of the dreaded marestail syndrone.The weed suppressant will only make the stuff grow along the ground. I just try and use a fork to loosen the soil and pull the stuff out as best as you can. Never use a hoe!
If you've got it unfortunately you've got it. Chemicals work but only until a bit more pops up.

[simmo116]

its just frustrating becase ui only have half a plot and my neibour hs'nt got any horse tail at all

[Justy]

Hand weeding is either the benefit/disadvantage of raised beds (depending on your view).  I personally prefer hand weeding the small area of a raised bed (which has nice soft uncompacted soil) to hoeing long rows and areas that are not growing veg.