Hi all,
My plot is in its first year having been re-claimed after 7 years of brambles and bindweed running amok.
The raised bed in which I have sown my carrot and parsnip seeds is suddenly covered in weeds and the bindweed is shooting up all over it. I thought I had thoroughly dug out all the roots!
There are some tiny carrot shoots in amongst the chaos but they are looking a bit lost and I'm worried the bindweed will simply suffocate the life out of them.
I'm wondering if I should just re-dig the bed and start again. Do I still have plenty of time to sow carrots and parsnips? I can probably get the re-dig done a week today.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Stork
Try picking out the weeds as best you can without disturbing the carotts/parsnips they may succeed and it won't hurt to sow a few more just for insurance ;) I don't think it will be too late ;)
Break off the bindweed tops as well, to get light to the seedlings, and reduce the chance of molluscs hiding in the overgrowth. If you can bring yourself to do it paint some Glyphosate on the leaves of the Bindweed, it works really well on the new growth!... keep the bindeweed down with at least weekly culls! every couple of days if you can, any rootstock only stores photosynthed energy, and if you dug out a lot it has less to draw on this year!
:(
Pick off the bindweed shoots every week, and dig the roots out when you lift the crop. It's all you can do unless you use weedkiller; it takes real patience to deal with this stuff.
I have weed seedlings growing amongst my carrot seedlings, be careful when you weed them out whilst the carrots are still small, if you're not careful the carrot seedlings come out with the weeds. I weeded the carrot patch yesterday and sowed some more seeds in amongst the gaps where the weed seedlings came out. It's fiddly but each year it will get better.
You have our sympathy. Exactly the same story on our lottie this morning. :-X
Two weeks off and we have returned to a jungle of bindweed couch grass and some very healthy looking annual weeds. :'(
Onions have been rescued (except the spring onions accidentally hoed down in the war) but we are just going to rake over the carrots and parsnips. The carrots are very tiny and the parsnips don't appear to have done anything yet.
I've just re read May's Kitchen Gardener magazine and it suggests its not too late to sow parsnip :)
and depending on you carrot variety they can be sown at this time of year too.
Hope this is helpful and comiserations.
Mouseski
I just resowed parsnips the other day. They should be fine.