Topic: Bindweed after bindweed

[grahamatlocking]

Hello,

I just got a new plot and its completely covered in bindweed, has anyone got any ideas on how to get rid of it, there is so much them I don't no where to start!

I hope someone can help.
Thanks

G x

[Mr Smith]

I have this problem but what happened with me in the first place was that my allotment had not been worked for a couple of years so I had the problem of clearing the allotment last back end, but what I really should of done was concentrate on a clearing job this year rather that putting stuff in and dodging round the bloody bind weed, now I have several parts of the allotment clear of veg and I have started to spray with a container of professional Roundup which I was able to get hold of, this does clear the ground and after I'm happy with the spraying I will put a good load of farmyard manure on the allotment and leave over winter, I suppose I will have a minor problem next year than what I have had this year, that is what I'm intending to do but I suppose others have their own way of doing things :)

[grahamatlocking]

Thanks for your reply, My allotment has not been worked on for about a year, so I think I am going to have the same problem as you, I will have to get a strong weed killer I guess and wait until next year to start planting on the plot, so you know if you can use horse manure on plots?

G

[saddad]

Horse manure is often thought to be the best.....
We used Amcide to "clear" a very overgrown allotment but you have to leave it 6months after before planting again.
 :-\

[Mr Smith]

I have access to plenty of horse muck but not being an expert I have been told that with horse muck seeds that the Horses eat just go right through them and could start to grow on the lotty :)

[grahamatlocking]

Thats good then because I have a friend who said I can have it for FREE!

I will have to watch out for extra seeds that I dont plant, lol

Also what is Amcide??

G

[ceres]

Mr Smith, you could harvest the bindweed and knit yourself a bra to solve your little problem?

[Mr Smith]

Ceres,
           what I do in the privacy of my own house is my business, anyway how do you know I wear a bra  and wellingtons when I 'm being lashed and I don't like F1 :P

[Lauren S]

Two methods I have learnt about bindweeds from some *Old Hands* on my lottie site...

1...Don't pull it out, either dig it out or CUT IT DOWN
                     
                    OR

2...If after you have cleared and (thought) you have dug it all out and you plant your crops and it rears its ugly head again....Just stick in several tall bamboo canes amongst your crops. Allow the bindweed to climb the sticks. When you have quite a clump of it on each stick, remove the sticks and place the bindweed into plastic bags (still attached to the ground) and spray with roundup. Tie the bags, leave on the ground to work it's magic and he presto...bindweed killed.
My neighbour did this through his raspberry canes and the bindweed has disappeared.  :)

Hope this helps
Lauren

[debster]

sounds a good idea to me Lauren

[Fork]

Yes and if you "bruise" a couple of the leaves before you spray the roundup will work even quicker.

[Buster54]

That is what I did dug as much of the roots out as I could see but a new plant can sprout from a piece of root as little as a quarter of an inch so it is gonna take time to get rid of it
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0801/bindweed.asp

[grahamatlocking]

Thank you all soooo much for all your replies, I think I am going to go with CUTTING IT DOWN option, I think I will jump in and just go for it.

G x

[STEVEB]

i try not to use chemicals ..any organic approaches?

[mcgillnorfolk]

Hi STEVEB

Another option to chemials is to cover the plot with thick black plastic sheeting, weigh down and leave over winter then dig over and clear in the spring. Bindweed is a nightmare to get rid of and unless you virtually sieve all your soil, it will return on a yearly basis. 

We personally resorted to strong chemicals in our first year as the plot we took on hadn't been worked for about 2 years.  Now in our 3rd year, we still have a problem with bindweed but it does seem to get a bit less each year. 

Don't be tempted to rotovate until you have dug out and cleared as much as possible as this will only make the problem 5 times worse.

[Barnowl]

If you've nothing planted cute then dig and sieve. But once bindweed is in your fruit bushes,  a glyphosate like Tumbleweed Gel and plastic bags is about the only option, other than digging up all your fruit bushes so that you can get to the bindweed root system.  I decided I could live with this approach as a one-off hit, because glyphosates breakdown when they contact soil (true) and are meant to cause zero build up of nasty chemicals (some doubt if used regularly?).


PS We originally took the digging and sieving approach.  This attack of bindweed was courtesy of the very poorly tended plot next door.

[antipodes]

I have it everywhere and I have found that it is impossible to get out, I don't want to use any chemicals so I just live with it. If I plant I clear the beds out deeply, pulling up the roots, and I find that covering actually encourages it, but it does weaken the roots that then grow long and white. Other than that I just keep ripping it out wherever it appears, hoeing as best I can. I regularly inspect any tall plants and pull out any that is growing around the roots.

I don't think I will ever get rid of it, and I think that cultivating actually encourages it to spread on a plot.
This year I also seem to be growing couch grass that wasn't there before, I am suspecting the horse manure I brought in.

[keef]

Make sure you dig it in the winter and pull out what you can see, dont rotorvate - or it will be ten time worse. Any that does appear after that just keep hoeing it off, eventually it will start to give up. Though you'll probably never get rid of all of it.

As for horse muck, if you leave it for at least 3 month's (the longer the better) to rot down before digging it in, you should'nt have any problems with seeds.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Annual digging gets rid of it, eventually, I haven't had much joy with other methids, except once. When I was at school, we had a garden which was overwhelmed by the stuff. I nicked some copper sulphate from the chemistry lab at school, and kept painting a strong solution on. The leaves turned yellow, the plants died, and none of them ever came back.

[Sparkly]

Annual digging gets rid of it, eventually, I haven't had much joy with other methids, except once. When I was at school, we had a garden which was overwhelmed by the stuff. I nicked some copper sulphate from the chemistry lab at school, and kept painting a strong solution on. The leaves turned yellow, the plants died, and none of them ever came back.

Now that is interesting! Perhaps I should bring some copper sulphate home myself!