Topic: National Bindweed collection

[delboy]

Put it in water and put a lid over the bucket or, in my case, dustbin.

After a few weeks the liquid makes a good feed.

The next year it goes on the compost heap.

Shimples

[Robert_Brenchley]

The one thing I'd add to that is that it will also root from a buried stem.

[cleo]

 but it's not recomended to eat them very often due to the purgative effect.

Who cares? get the celeb gardeners and celeb chefs round to dig the bloody stuff out. Most of them talk the effects of a purgative anyway ;D

[Vinlander]

On the subject of getting rid of terrible weeds - repeating myself a bit (said the same about couch).

You're crazy to burn it while it's damp or still floppy because of the smoke nuisance.

You'd be even crazier to burn it when it's dry enough not to smoke - at that point it is crunchy and 100% dead and all that fertility can go through your compost heap with no further effort - it simply disappears no matter how crap your composting technique is...(I should know).

Bindweed roots dry much quicker even than couch - they don't seem to have a skin on them.

A week in dry weather will do it, but hedge your bets by putting it on a raised mesh or grille so if it does rain the soil will wash off the roots and it will dry all the quicker when the sun comes out.

A big problem just requires a chicken wire hammock to dry it all.

If you can't get it out of the clods the answer is to dry them and then hit them with a lump hammer - it doesn't take much effort to smash it small enough to get every bit.

If the clod isn't dry enough to smash easily then dry it some more...

[Robert_Brenchley]

I compost them. They die like everything else, and couch doesn't last very long in a bin. I think the antipathy to composting them comes from the tradition of open-topped heaps where they'd be able to establish themselves.

[Vinlander]

I compost them. They die like everything else, and couch doesn't last very long in a bin. I think the antipathy to composting them comes from the tradition of open-topped heaps where they'd be able to establish themselves.

Any composting is good composting, but I don't like the idea of perennial weeds making merry in my wonderful compost - and it feels like they are even if they aren't!

Are you relying on purpose-factory-made bins? (which I don't like enough to pay for), or does it still work with the classic 4-pallet cube with carpet on top?

If there's any uncertainty about whether I'm going to find 'strings' of roots in my compost, then I think the tiny effort of drying them to death is far less than the effort of finding and separating them out again...

Cheers.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I use the factory-made bins. It would work in anything lightproof. A heap with black plastic over the top kills them just as efficiently.

[pigeonseed]

They don't sound delicious, do they!  ;D