Topic: Bindweed Problem Question

[muddylou]

Wasn't sure if to put this in the "Pests and Diseases" section as this is how I feel about it. It's my first year with an allotment, I dug deep and removed as many bits of root or weed during the late winter over the entire plot.
        I'm really pleased with the veg I've had and stuff growing now. The bindweed is starting to get me down though, not so much the stuff that's easy to pull up, but more the stuff that wraps around my stems and stalks of the veg I'm growing, thus me causing damage to them as I try to remove the weed.
        My plan is to let the bindweed grow as I remove crops (to leave empty beds) and then paint it all with Glysophate (sp). I'd then leave the raised beds untouched until November when I intend to plant onions and garlic in one of them.
         Can anyone see an obvious problem with this that I haven't thought about, I know it's a chemical but I would really like to address the weed problem  before next year.

[Sparkly]

Glyphosphate will work on the bindweed, but you will probably need to use it a number of times. The only (short-term) answer is to pull it before before it starts to wrap. The long-term answer is dig (again and again and again) or keep painting with weedkiller. You will get there......

Glyphosphate if inactivated as soon as it touches the soil so you can plant straight away no need to wait.

[Digeroo]

It was recommended to me to put the green growth of the bindweed in a plastic bag and then spray the chemical into the bag.  I have found it works quite well.  Less drifts around and it seems to concentrate the stuff on the plant. 

[Eristic]

Roundup does not deactivate on contact with the soil, it just ceases to be effective as a weedkiller. It can still kill everything else, including you.

[Ishard]

Explain that statement please Eristic.

[Eristic]

Doh! My brain hurts.

Roundup was designed to kill weeds via contact with the foliage and as a weedkiller it is useless once in the soil. It still remains toxic to non-weed lifeforms. (No, I'm not going to waste my time showing you the evidence. Look for it yourself.)

[GodfreyRob]

As a chemical free gardener I have found the best way to get rid of persistent weeds is to gently lift up the soil with a fork and tease out the roots.

Digging with a spade just tends to chop them into smaller pieces and so redistribute next years crop :(

As the roots are so brittle its pretty easy to snap them into little pieces so taking care using a fork you can get out much more at a time.

Big advantage over chemicals is the cost too. You get back ache but there is no money involved ;D

[Digeroo]

I used it last year having been herbicide free for 23 years.  The bind weed had got totally out of hand.  I had been digging it up but it gets amongst the roots of permanent plants and then digging out is impossible.  It even seems to get quite deep into the soil and small pieces manage to stay however hard your try to remove it.  I wanted to planted some raspberries and knew it would be impossible to keep the bindweed away.

Perhaps becuase it had not seem the stuff before it was extremely effective.  But hve now read some of the stuff about it.  There does not seem to be much about the effect of the roots of the bindweed that remain in the soil.

[BarriedaleNick]

If I use a roundup type weedkiller (and I dont much) then I paint it on to try to minimise its effects elsewhere.
Eristic is right - it has been found to have a half life of over 100 days in the soil and is toxic to humans and just about everything else.
Monsanto has done a good job of promoting it as benign but do the google thing and you'll find plenty of evidence to the contrary.

[brownowl23]

Eristic - To pick your brains as your obviously esxperienced with this, what would you recommend to kill off bindweed if not something like Roundup. WHat are the better alternatives?
OK dig dig and dig some more is the obvious one, any others?

[Sparkly]

Doh! My brain hurts.


(No, I'm not going to waste my time...

Wow you are really coming across as quite arrogant here. I know you are experienced and you may have plenty of evidence for this, but there is not need to be quite so rude!

[tomatoada]

Now!  Now!  We don't fight on this forum.  We leave that to other sites.

[Kea]

        My plan is to let the bindweed grow as I remove crops (to leave empty beds) and then paint it all with Glysophate (sp). I'd then leave the raised beds untouched until November when I intend to plant onions and garlic in one of them.
         Can anyone see an obvious problem with this that I haven't thought about, I know it's a chemical but I would really like to address the weed problem  before next year.

The most obvious problem to me is that by that time the bindweed will be dying back for the winter, the glyphosate will only work if it is translocated to the roots which it won't be if the plant is dying back naturally.

[caroline7758]

To avoid damaging the plants when trying to unravel the bindweed, just break or cut it at ground level, then the bits that were winding round the plant will die. Deal with the roots after you've lifted the veg. Bindweed is my big enemy too- hate the stuff and don't think I'll ever get rid of it.My strawberries were completely swamped by it this year.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I thought I was on top of my bindweed but it grew like lightning in the wet last year, and it's a problem again. If you dig it out every time you clear a crop, you will get rid of it. I wouldn't trust glyphosate to break down to anything harmless. I do use it on the ground elder under my hedges, but not where I grow veg.

[Vortex]

If you pull out the bind weed just after it's got 3 or 4 leaves on it every time then it'll die off of it's own accord in about 3 years. Compared to Mares Tail bind weed is easy to deal with.

[muddylou]

Some good advice and thanks to you all of your replies, Kea has a point about the bindweed dying back before I could get at it, as some of the beds would still have veg in them. On the other hand half the plot wouldn't.
       I'm in a quandary, perhaps I should carry on digging it up early as it appears and see how it goes next year.
       Don't want to poison everyone... :)

[Unwashed]

Like Vortex, I've not found bindweed to be too troublesome, and it's pretty easy to pick the roots out from friable soil.

The story about glyphosate being deactivated when it hits the soil was what Monsanto said in their early marketing, but they don't say it now.

[muddylou]

Like Vortex, I've not found bindweed to be too troublesome, and it's pretty easy to pick the roots out from friable soil.

The story about glyphosate being deactivated when it hits the soil was what Monsanto said in their early marketing, but they don't say it now.

Point taken and thanks. Just thanking my lucky stars I don't have this mares tail, whatever that does, it sounds horrendous. 

[Melbourne12]

We use Roundup, with no ill effects.  The best time to use it is in the spring, prior to sowing.  In spite of all efforts to remove the bindweed roots, inevitably some will remain.  As it and other weeds begin to come through, spray with Roundup (or any similar glyphosate weedkiller).

Ideally leave for at least a week before final preparation of the bed.  It won't eliminate the bindweed problem, but it will improve it considerably.

For those worried about glyphosate toxicity, the best advice is not to drink it, especially the concentrate.  We take a nice flask of tea down to the allotment instead.