is weeding necessary?

[Karen Atkinson]

a ton of weeds have sprung up in my potato bed - is it really necessary to weed them all?

[Karen Atkinson]

[antipodes]

Well, I have just got out the most obvious ones, the bindweed and the thistles and groundsel. You could gently hoe if you like, then mulch them. I mulched mine with loads of straw so only the bindweed and really tall weeds grow through it.

[Unwashed]

Like antipodes, I weed out bindweed, thistles and groundsel because they out-compete the potatoes quite well, and I'll pull out any other weeds that get above the canopy too like grasses, persicaria, dock, and fat hen, but if the weed isn't getting above the canopy I don't reckon it's doing any harm, though at the moment the canopy hasn't closed up so I'll probably go along the rows today and have a clear-up.

[Stevens706]

What you have to remember is, if you dont weed and they set seed you will have thousands of weeds more next year

[Pesky Wabbit]

I too have had a ton of weeds have spring up in my potato bed in the last few days.

I'll tolerate a few competing weeds, but there are just too many.

I weed. I did two rows last night, took about half a hour. I only did it roughly.

Anything that was easy to pull out, came out, others just had their leaves removed. Small stuff just got left.

I'll weed more later in the week and next week I'll earth up.

With thoroughly wet soil, hoeing is a waste of time, they just replant themselves. Pulling out is the only way.

[BarriedaleNick]

With thoroughly wet soil, hoeing is a waste of time, they just replant themselves. Pulling out is the only way.

I respectfully disagree  ;D

Hoes have to be sharp to be really usefull.  I have only just dicovered the joy of a sharp hoe myself after getting a grinding wheel for my drill.  Every tool in my shed now has a proper edge on it and the difference is amazing.  It just cuts through the weeds - wet soil or not.  I do prefer a pull hoe though..
Of course no good for bindweed or deep rooted weeds which will just regrow...but great for general use!

[davyw1]

With thoroughly wet soil, hoeing is a waste of time, they just replant themselves. Pulling out is the only way.

I respectfully disagree  ;D

Hoes have to be sharp to be really usefull.  I have only just dicovered the joy of a sharp hoe myself after getting a grinding wheel for my drill.  Every tool in my shed now has a proper edge on it and the difference is amazing.  It just cuts through the weeds - wet soil or not.  I do prefer a pull hoe though..
Of course no good for bindweed or deep rooted weeds which will just regrow...but great for general use!

I  also respectfully disagree
  Not all hoes should be sharp, use a sharp one amongst your onions and catch a bulb it will split it, use a sharp one on your potatoes you will decapitate the tuber 

[BarriedaleNick]

davyw1  - I respectfully agree!  I shall keep a blunt one for the very purposes you mention.

[Digeroo]

I am somewhat surprised I have loads of weeds everywhere else but very few amongst the potatoes, I keep earthing them up, seems to discourage the weeds.  I have always thought that potatoes somehow prevent the weeds.  I actually put them in two patches which were particularly bad on the weed front to clear them up. 

I have always pulled the weeds in the onion beds in the belief that hoeing encouraged the onions to flower.

I like a good sharp hoe.  Now that it has rained it is particularly satisfying.

[goodlife]

my..my..we are very agreeable mood today... ;D..but..yes I agree too...I have sharp and blunt one...tool for each job... ;)
Digeroo...I don't agree with all weeding...if it doesn't compete with the crop I'll leave it or just reduce the size... ;)
For some extent I believe that not only it is good for soil but also good against pest...my lottie is never weedless one not only because I do not have enough hours in a day to do so but also I believe gardening more towards 'natural' way ..in nature everything grows in layers and if one layer is missing..then there is some beneficial insects missing too..and it does work..not straight away..it will take few years before ecological circle will become complete...but I rarely have problems with pests and diseases (other than birds)...with some crops you do have to weed and have bare soil around..for start with at least...but potatoes I find not..to me it is lazy ones crop..once it is in ground...very little needs to be done afterwards..other than digging it out again and wheeling it away... ;D ::)

[Tee Gee]

I never weed my potato patch as such ....but!!

I time my earthing up to do a two in one job!

I find that the weeds and the potato haulms grow/emerge at pretty much the same time so when I do get around to earthing up I effectively weed at the same time.

Then the potato haulms tend to grow faster than the (new)weeds thus starving them of light so they do not manifest themselves as much as they did in the first flush.

So although I haven't got rid of the weeds I find that those that escape do not affect the crop a great deal.

OK I'm basically an idle b****r  but why do two jobs when one is enough?  ::)

[Digeroo]

I like it.  Now when anyone sees my collection of weeds I will know that I am in fact nurturing all sorts of beneficial insects.  I have let some of the rocket go to seed because the bees love it.  I like the poppies and heartsease.   I leave groudsell for the goldfinches.  But the fat hen has got to go before it produces seeds, it seems to get harder to remove as it gets bigger.  It can produce hundreds of thousands of seeds per plant.  Now if the pigeons were like hens they could be really useful.  

[goodlife]

..you can eat pigeons... 8)

[goodlife]

..pigeon curry with new potatoes... ;D ;D and fat hen salad...

[Jeannine]

We don't have pigeons on our plots..I think the eagles scare them off.

I do agree with Tee Gee though, if you catch the earthing up at the right time the job does itself. I actually don't earth up anymore  as I am in raised  beds, the potato one has an extra wood extension of 10 inches which I can move from bed to bed as we rotate crops, we just mulch over the growing spuds with layers as they grow..no weeds have made it as yet

XX Jeannine

[gwynnethmary]

I actually like weeding!  I think it's in my genes- my Dad loved tidy soil and I do too.  The sight of a ploughed field with its bare earth ready and waiting is wonderful to me! 

[sawfish]

I weed my tatties when the weeds seem to be getting above the tops of the smallest tatties. I get on my knees and pull them out and shove earth around the bases of the tatties.

I prefer a sharp hoe. I'm just more careful.

[Pesky Wabbit]

Unfortunately the landlord (the Council) have a thing about people who grow weeds, even if it is for all sorts of beneficial insects.   :(

[Eristic]

Weeding is a fun pastime.  :P

Do it for the pleasure, and just think of all that lovely compost material.

[redcoat]

Another benefit of hoeing?

I was always told that hoeing was also good for preventing the moisture in the ground from evaporating.

If the surface soil is loose and dry, and plants are watered individually, the water stays below the dry tilth.  This dry soil also makes it harder for weeds to reroot.

Harder to maintain if you are growing acres, but has always worked for me on a small scale.