Quick Class on Weed Science

[Gibson's Farm]

I was reading deluxestogie's grow blog and he did an experiment on not weeding the last of his weeds in the fall.

To save everyone a lot of pain and heart ache I will give a brief summary of weed science.

The best way to classify a "weed" is any plant out of place. Wheat in a corn field, wheat is a weed, corn in a wheat field, corn is the weed.

Weed seed bank- In every soil there are 1000's of weed seeds per square foot of soil. This is your weed seed bank. Weed seeds are very hardy. Some seeds can remain dormant in the soil for up to 1700 years. Yes 1,700 years, but not all seeds, some only lay dormant a couple of years and some even less. The weed seed bank can be reduced but it takes years and years of cultural and chemical means of control and will never be any were close to 0 weed seeds.

Weeds are very strong plants that grow rapidly and compete for nutrients with crops. Generally what happens is a weed seed will lay dormant in the soil until conditions are right for its emergence. The ideal conditions will vary for type of weed so there is no real way to say when a certain weed will emerge or not. The only thing that you can do for sure is count on weeds being present.

The faster you kill a weed the better you are. For every microscopic inch that a weed grows it uses nutrients in the soil, that your plant can and will use.

Do not let any weed go to seed. This is the worst thing possible to do. One ragweed plant can produce up to 10,000 seeds. So if you let just one weed go to seed you raised the number of seeds in your weed seed bank by 10,000 seeds.

Ways to control weeds: I am a sustainable farmer and I use a hybrid of all these methods to control weeds in my crops and produce, depending on the crop and weed I am trying to kill. I have cultivating tractors and the works similar to what people are using in these videos. While I know most of you are not in trying to produce tobacco for a living, you can still learn a lot from watching this videos and adapt smaller scale version to suite you individual situation.



Flaming- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpfMHM75EJc , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDpeHp_98zQ , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMBsEgE7ldc

Cultivating (mechanical)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRf0QXhj7CA , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cl7f6fluKE , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmZlmIDoOYM

Chemical- This is my least preferred method of weed control (I run a sustainable Farm)

crop rotation- This is very crucial. Any were you leave bare soil you leave a site for weed invasion. This should be studied in depth. I could write 10 pages on just this topic but I am already getting tired of writing.

Cover crops- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqdaY38YgcA , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06N63U-RAl0

Also if you have a very large garden or baccy patch I would highly recommend finding an old row crop tractor with cultivators. You can usually pick one up for less than a new troybuilt horse tiller and they will work circles around a tiller. And your back will thank you after. I picked up my Farmall Super C for $1400 and it came with a set of belly cultivators. Don't be scared of these old tractors I farm 40 acres with a farmall M and Farmll Super C. Wont have it any other way.

 

[USHOG]

Good information. I just pull them weeds out and cover with mulch and repeat and repeat...

 

[Gibson's Farm]

Good information. I just pull them weeds out and cover with mulch and repeat and repeat...

I should have also listed Mulching it is a cultural control and does work well. Mulching also helps by holding in moisture and suppressing weeds. Mulching also helps add organic matter back into the soil.

 

[Knucklehead]

What is a microscopic inch?

 

[Gibson's Farm]

What is a microscopic inch?

I was just over stating the fact that for every measurable amount of weed bio mass there is a directly negative correlation in soil health. Some plants have been studied so much that they know how much of each nutrient will depleted for every gram of plant matter.

For example these numbers are for demonstration purposes only.

One ragweed plant that weigths 5 lbs dry, used 50 lbs of Nitrogen , 20lbs of Phosphorus and 20lbs of Potassium to reach the dry weight of 5 lbs.

 

[Smokin Harley]

what do you do about the damn purslane . we have it . I know it is an edible weed ,i've actually eaten it years ago it was ok. But Its just rampant. Its one of those weeds that when it goes to seed , if you touch it , the tiny seeds explode everywhere.
I use a scuffle /stirrup hoe to cultivate my plots. and hand pull big stuff .I actually had the idea to haul the shop vac out to the garden to suck up the purslane as I pull it so the seeds only go up in the vac hose but I figured the neighbors would look at me funny.

 

[Gibson's Farm]

what do you do about the damn purslane . we have it . I know it is an edible weed ,i've actually eaten it years ago it was ok. But Its just rampant. Its one of those weeds that when it goes to seed , if you touch it , the tiny seeds explode everywhere.
I use a scuffle /stirrup hoe to cultivate my plots. and hand pull big stuff .I actually had the idea to haul the shop vac out to the garden to suck up the purslane as I pull it so the seeds only go up in the vac hose but I figured the neighbors would look at me funny.

I am not familiar with purslane. If you are growing in pots I would pull the weeds and cover around the base with mulch. The best thing to do is to keep the weeds from getting to seed. A good mulching will help suppress weeds from the start. If the problem is really bad in your pots, I would get new sterile soil to put in your pots and cover them with lots of mulch when you are not growing in them so that foreign seeds can not enter the pot.

 

[Gibson's Farm]

what do you do about the damn purslane . we have it . I know it is an edible weed ,i've actually eaten it years ago it was ok. But Its just rampant. Its one of those weeds that when it goes to seed , if you touch it , the tiny seeds explode everywhere.
I use a scuffle /stirrup hoe to cultivate my plots. and hand pull big stuff .I actually had the idea to haul the shop vac out to the garden to suck up the purslane as I pull it so the seeds only go up in the vac hose but I figured the neighbors would look at me funny.

Here is what I found out about purslane. http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/publicworks/weeds/pdf/PurselaneControlRec.pdf

Manual/Mechanical Techniques
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Eradicating purslane is difficult due to the large number of seedlings that one plant can produce. A few small plants the first year can become a carpet of plants the following season. Due to its shallow root structure, this plant can be easily pulled. Because purslane can also grow roots from its plant fragments, rototilling a garden space with purslane can spread the plants. If there are too many plants to pull, sheet-mulching can prevent plants from spreading. Sheet mulching involves overlapping layers of newspaper and/or cardboard with natural mulch material (wood chips, compost etc) spread on top, 3-4 inches deep. Soil solarization, the practice of covering moist soil with a clear plastic sheet for 4 to 6 weeks during the summer months, can control common purslane and its seed. Solarization is done before gardens and ornamental areas are planted. To be effective it should be done during the summer months of July to August when heat and light intensity are highest. Do not cultivate the soil after solarization as weed seeds from deeper layers of the soil may be brought to the surface for germination. Always monitor for new seedlings and do not let them get to the seeding stage. Remove all plant pieces and carefully place plants into bags and seal the bags on site.
[/FONT][/FONT]

 

[vinconco]

I started a new garden a few years ago from a fallow field approx. 15,000 sq ft.
I plowed the garden area in the fall and left it plowed until the next spring.
In the spring I disked it multiple times to even it out and break up clumps.
I called Southern States and they spread lime and 5-10-10 as per my soil test
I planted cowpeas which grew very thickly and disked them in that fall when I planted winter wheat.
Next spring I disked the garden as early as possible and as the soil warmed a blanket of weeds appeared.
I disked it again and again as the weeds appeared until planting. Some of the weeds had deep root structures so I spot sprayed with Round-Up

MORAL OF THE STORY----- I only worked the tobacco ONE TIME and it didn't really need it then. I posted pics of the tobacco and people commented on how weed free the tobacco was and I can tell you I ONLY WORKED IT ONE TIME. By planting cover crops like cowpeas and buckwheat I choked out weeds and kept them from growing to seed. Then in the spring, disking as the weeds sprouted 3 times broke the cycle. Any areas not planted in crops were planted in buckwheat which grows so thickly it chokes out everything. That's how I did it .... sure wish I'd have thought of this 30 years ago.

This pic was taken after I hilled the rows on 7/9/14



This pic was taken 8/19/14 and in that time I spend about 1/2 hr. working the plants ONE TIME to get out a few stragglers.

 

[Gibson's Farm]

I started a new garden a few years ago from a fallow field approx. 15,000 sq ft.
I plowed the garden area in the fall and left it plowed until the next spring.
In the spring I disked it multiple times to even it out and break up clumps.
I called Southern States and they spread lime and 5-10-10 as per my soil test
I planted cowpeas which grew very thickly and disked them in that fall when I planted winter wheat.
Next spring I disked the garden as early as possible and as the soil warmed a blanket of weeds appeared.
I disked it again and again as the weeds appeared until planting. Some of the weeds had deep root structures so I spot sprayed with Round-Up

MORAL OF THE STORY----- I only worked the tobacco ONE TIME and it didn't really need it then. I posted pics of the tobacco and people commented on how weed free the tobacco was and I can tell you I ONLY WORKED IT ONE TIME. By planting cover crops like cowpeas and buckwheat I choked out weeds and kept them from growing to seed. Then in the spring, disking as the weeds sprouted 3 times broke the cycle. Any areas not planted in crops were planted in buckwheat which grows so thickly it chokes out everything. That's how I did it .... sure wish I'd have thought of this 30 years ago.

This pic was taken after I hilled the rows on 7/9/14



This pic was taken 8/19/14 and in that time I spend about 1/2 hr. working the plants ONE TIME to get out a few stragglers.

Great job, cow peas are great smother crops because they are a nitrogen fixing legume that will add nitrogen back to the soil. This is exactly what I am talking about by using a hybrid of ,cultural , mechanical and chemical controls. I planted turnips for my cover crop this year. This was mainly due to cost. I planted 14 acres of turnips and put down lime at the same time. Total cost was around 500 dollars.

 

[Smokin Harley]

Here is what I found out about purslane. http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/publicworks/weeds/pdf/PurselaneControlRec.pdf

Manual/Mechanical Techniques
Eradicating purslane is difficult due to the large number of seedlings that one plant can produce. A few small plants the first year can become a carpet of plants the following season. Due to its shallow root structure, this plant can be easily pulled. Because purslane can also grow roots from its plant fragments, rototilling a garden space with purslane can spread the plants. If there are too many plants to pull, sheet-mulching can prevent plants from spreading. Sheet mulching involves overlapping layers of newspaper and/or cardboard with natural mulch material (wood chips, compost etc) spread on top, 3-4 inches deep. Soil solarization, the practice of covering moist soil with a clear plastic sheet for 4 to 6 weeks during the summer months, can control common purslane and its seed. Solarization is done before gardens and ornamental areas are planted. To be effective it should be done during the summer months of July to August when heat and light intensity are highest. Do not cultivate the soil after solarization as weed seeds from deeper layers of the soil may be brought to the surface for germination. Always monitor for new seedlings and do not let them get to the seeding stage. Remove all plant pieces and carefully place plants into bags and seal the bags on site.

Thanks, I do not grow in pots. My plots total size is currently 30 x 40 ft .I have put grass clippings on my walk paths and in the boxes that allow it ( i square foot garden) I'll try the sheet plastic and I've been saving newspaper also. Purslane is a thick waxy leaved succulent ,red stems ,growth spreads across the ground and yes it can reproduce by a simple leaf or stem falling to the ground. Its a pain in the ass to say the least. which is why I contemplate hauling the shop vac out to the garden while I pull it. so that the tiny leaves that would normally fall unnoticed would instead be sucked up in the vac.

 

[Gibson's Farm]

Hahaha sorry for some reason I thought you said pots, not plots. Yea I think the plastic or news paper could help.

 

[Texasgrown]

Very nice garden/patch. I too use a tractor with a disk. If you are doing any reasonable sized area other I would highly recommend. We have a large commercial honda tiller and use it too sometimes but our garden is roughly an acre each year. We have found that after the fall crop disk the ground real well and add some pre emergent you will kill off a lot of native seeds. We then disk and apply again before planting in the spring. Most those tiny weed seeds get placed too deep to grow. We also disk in a lot of added compost in the fall. One chicken manure is too hot to add in the Summer but work it in early giving about 3-4 months for it to cool off and get worked in by the rain you will grow big maters. We also use drip lines on yo timer here in Texas and they work amazingly no more watering or concern just turn it off it is set to rain or get a rain sensor.