Topic: Weedless

[Good Gourd 2]

How do these gardeners get rows of produce with no weeds at all, Ive hoed and hoed but still some come up. Anyone out there know the secret.???

[goodlife]

Secret is that there is more to life than having weedless rows..although it does look good but it doesn't do any good for your soil and the environment..if there is mono culture of plants..even in small area..that crop will be lacking lots of benefial insects and predators for those little bleeders that is going to attact that crop...then you are quite likely going to need pesticides...
But if you do have weedless envy going on and want to try..its just pure back aching excersize..on your hands and knees pick the things out where hoe cannot go..if you keep your bed pristine like that for year or two you will see that eventually there is less and less new weed seeds germinating.
But remember..more bare soil is exposed to the elements..more evaporating moisture..more watering..more adding soil conditioners to enchance the soil etc...it's just lot of work.. Is it worth it?

[flitwickone]

i agrre come and say hello to my mares tail i enjoy the battle with it to be honest it knows im there and i know its there lol

[Larkshall]

Most hoes which are available today are pretty useless things. My father always used a "Beet singling hoe", that's one with sharp pointed ends to it. You use these ends to winkle out the individual weed seedlings, sugar beet were "singled" in the same way. Most draw hoes are only "choppers" now. Dutch or "push" hoes were always made with a round steel rod "stirrup" but today they just stamp them out of flat sheet so the soil cannot flow through the stirrup.

There's nothing that cannot be made a little worse and a little cheaper (whether it works properly is another matter).

[Crystalmoon]

Hiya, I used to try my best to keep my lotty as weed free as some of the plots on my site but I soon realised that as I grow organically it is virtually impossible to get those weed free rows of veg without using poisons. So last year I didnt stress over the weeds as much & actually left an area to go to nature so to speak & guess what I had less damage from pests on my crops, a wide array of good insects visiting & also loads of toads clearing away the slugs. I dont grow my veg in long rows anymore either as I found doing that equalled more losses to pests.
Jane   

[Vinlander]

I've always found hoeing doesn't work on clay except in highest summer - all other times the d**n things just re-root in the damp clay.

However since I've put in raised beds hoeing has started to work quite well - not great but worth the effort.

Cheers.

[Good Gourd 2]

Thanks everyone I really just wondered, if I was doing or not doing something wrong.

[goodlife]

No you are not doing anything wrong..there is still this 'old school' in lotties that think only way to garden is to kill anything and everything that is not the actual crop. As long as the weeds are not the main plant you are growing and they do not compete the crops with water and light too much..that should be perfectly acceptable..well it is for me anyway. I tend to weed more when the new veg is still young and growing..once they are bit larger and establish..I relax with the standards..larger plants should be able to cope with some undergrowth ;)
I've got neighbour who is one of these 'old school' growers..and has literally shouted me being 'weed grower' ::)..but it's not me who's soil surface is blue with the amount of slug pellets or whose brussels are reduced to shreds with caterpillars or who is constantly spraying something..and yet they are the ones who are buying organic seeds for them being better.. ::)
Letting nature to have some room to do their bit is big help for you..Chrystalmoon's experience is good example that is what I have experienced too. As long as your weeds don't cause trouble for your neighbours..

[Crystalmoon]

I just thought I would add that on my heavy clay using a hoe only works if I then rake or pick up the weeds straight after as they do reroot as Vinlander says. Then I put them in a corner I have selected as this years weedy/rough area. At the end of the summer those that havent taken root have dead roots so its ok to compost them (or burn). I never put freshly removed weeds in my compost as they often grow ::)

I also use black membrane alot on areas that will be my squash beds for the year. I just plant the squash through the membrane & it keep weeds totally under control & prevents compacting the soil by having to wander in & around the trailing squash plants just to weed. The odd weed may try to grow next to the squash plant through the hole in the membrane but they are easily picked & once the squash is established the weeds dont seem to get enough light to grow. The toads on my plot seem to deal with the slugs for me. My biggest pest problem is pigeons & people who steal!   

[kt.]

How do these gardeners get rows of produce with no weeds at all, Ive hoed and hoed but still some come up. Anyone out there know the secret.???

The secret is.... you need to get yourself a weed alarm, available from all good gardening shops.  Each time a weed pops up in your allotment the alarm will activate;  you then need to dash to the plot and off with his head.  This acts a lesson to other weeds who fancy their chances on your plot.  Other than that - the battle continues ;D ;D ;D

[Sparkly]

How do these gardeners get rows of produce with no weeds at all, Ive hoed and hoed but still some come up. Anyone out there know the secret.???

The secret is.... you need to get yourself a weed alarm, available from all good gardening shops.  Each time a weed pops up in your allotment the alarm will activate;  you then need to dash to the plot and off with his head.  This acts a lesson to other weeds who fancy their chances on your plot.  Other than that - the battle continues ;D ;D ;D

I think our lottie neighbour has one of these! He doesn't use chemicals. He just hoes alot!

[Robert_Brenchley]

The secret is.... you need to get yourself a weed alarm, available from all good gardening shops.  Each time a weed pops up in your allotment the alarm will activate;  you then need to dash to the plot and off with his head.  This acts a lesson to other weeds who fancy their chances on your plot.  Other than that - the battle continues ;D ;D ;D

Nah, you need a UN resolution, then NATO can go in. The weeds have to have oil, then go and upset the western powers, or you're doomed.

[Digeroo]

There's a plot near me which looks like an army from a Star Wars movie, every plant in neat evenly spaces rows and not a weed in sight.  No idea how they do it.  Yes they hoe but not that often. 

I think that maybe the middle of May is important.  I went away on hols and came back to find the weeds had taken over in only twelve days and I never recovered.  Meanwhile their plot was totally clear and stayed that way.

No hols for me in May this year!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

I think it's got something to do with soil fertility. My father had allotments, one of which he reclaimed from many years' neglect. He dug all the turf out, burnt it, and never put anything into the soil. He never had many weeds, but why would they bother?

[Deb P]

Grow plants closer togehter than the seed packets recommend, then harvest alternate plants when small for 'baby veg' and the foliage smothers all the weeds....or you just don't see them, so that means they are not there in my world..... ;D

[calendula]

also depends on what you call a weed - I have flowering companion plants on most of my plots which do make their way onto others and sometimes the owners complain  ??? but they generally dig up easily but I can't imagine why folks wouldn't want something like tansy, fantastic allure for black fly, mares tail has its uses, many are pretty and essential to wildlife - flowering dandelions will be good for the bees when there's not much else and some so called weeds you can eat - learn to love your weeds  ;D absolutely neat rows with nothing out of place is way to anal for me but a natural balance is much more healthy surely

[antipodes]

Yes I agree totally. I still have a lot of weeds and grass growing, although they get a bit fewer each year. Hoe and leave to die on the surface, I always do that unless it's my bindweed. Mulch, Mulch and more mulch! On everything! A heavy layer of straw and keep renewing it!
i plant some things through plastic, it helps a bit, like the courgettes and maybe the aubergines and peppers this year, as they are easy to plant that way.

Some of the old timers here have pristine plots - but they often spend everyday down there!!! X explains Y...

[Vinlander]

also depends on what you call a weed - I have flowering companion plants on most of my plots which do make their way onto others and sometimes the owners complain  ??? but they generally dig up easily but I can't imagine why folks wouldn't want something like tansy, fantastic allure for black fly, mares tail has its uses, many are pretty and essential to wildlife - flowering dandelions will be good for the bees when there's not much else and some so called weeds you can eat - learn to love your weeds  ;D absolutely neat rows with nothing out of place is way to anal for me but a natural balance is much more healthy surely

I couldn't agree more - I encourage feral or 'volunteer' land cress, 2 or 3 types of purslane, all the chinese greens (mustard broccoli is the very best as long as you don't boil it) and I tolerate celery and salsify.

Every single volunteer on your plot is one less weed in that niche.

None of these volunteers are weeds because to me a weed isn't an edible plant in the wrong place (that's just a transplant in waiting) - no - a weed is something where you never know when it's going to bolt and fill your plot with a million more b*****s, so if you haven't time to get them all out RIGHT NOW you have to check every one every b*******g week.

Of course perennial creepers are even worse (horsetail is intolerable) but they are another matter...

Cheers.

PS I know chickweed is delicious (very well chopped) but it's very dodgy to collect on soil - if you pick up and eat just one little spurge plant in that mass of stems it could spoil your whole month. It's a bit safer to collect it from grassland.