question about hoeing!

[fruit&vegvirgin]

have just been and had a go at hoeing between my onions and garlic and have an idiot's question about hoeing!
is the idea to just chop the weeds off at soil level, and keep doing it so they give up? having done that, do I need to remove the weeds in case they start themselves off again?
not sure what the weeds are, there are some tiny bulb like things that came with the compost, and judging from the smell they could well be chives (or else I've hoed my precious veg). others are more leafy, clearly distinct from the onions etc.

[Lesley Jay]

Be careful with that hoe around your onions because you don't want to damage them. When you hoe you are just removing the top growth and I prefer to hand weed and pull up the roots as well.

[andrewo]

The idea is, with a dutch hoe, to hoe just below the surface on a nice warm day, this cuts off the growth and, unless it is a perennial, like marestail, you can leave to shrivel up in the heat, otherwise you have to remove. Where your onions, set or seeds? As the bulbs may be onions!!!

[Nicos]

It is often easier to weed by hand in the winter as the soil is moist.You also know you if you have pulled up the whole weed. With howing, the intention as andrewo says it to chop off the top (and some weeds will just grow back) or to expose anyroots to the surface where they will hopefully die off. This is of course more likely in the hot sun, but in moist surroundings they are more likely to re-root if you don't collect them.With some weeds you can even be spreading it!! Until you are happy recognising your baby weeds, I would be tempted to pull up the whole thing. You must have better weather than us today!

[fruit&vegvirgin]

they were sets, not seed, so what I am pulling up is like little tiny bulbs, not the onions or garlic unless they have mutated. I've got a little hand hoe thing, didnt trust my eyesight doing it long distance! but next time I've got 5 mins (ha!) I'll got and pick the bits up, and continue by hand.
dunno about better weather here, its brass monkeys out there! but having spent the whole day working on the pc I felt the need to go and do something else.

[Nicos]

How strange..why not plant them together away from the main crops and see what grows?? May be wild garlic or wild flowers and would be a pity to chuck them

[fruit&vegvirgin]

yeah, think I'll do that and see what happens. I've also got some of last year's chives hanging grimly onto life somewhere, so I might pull one up and see if they look the same - although thinking about it the leaves are a bit different.

[Alice]

Hello fruitandvegvirgin. If the little bulbs you found are weeds they may be what we call cow parsley. It has feathery leaves like carrot and makes white flowers. I think it is actually an umbellifera (is that how you spell that ) similar to yje kind you find growing along the sides of the roads - we call dogs flourish. It could well have arrived with your compost. Its difficult to get rid of. Needs a lot of persistence. Do remove the bulbs when you find them and NEVER let it flower. Good luck and let us know how you get on.