Weeds

[icom102]

Hi all i have a small garden which i have planted potatoes and vegetables in but like last year the weeds and grass is growing far quicker is there anything i can do to kill them off with out harming the potatoes or vegetables?

[snakeshack]

Try hoeing carefully before the weeds get too large ,or if its gone beyond the hoe you will need to hand weed to clear the weeds then resume with the hoe to keep them down. I would not advise weed killer next to food crops but you can buy spot on weed killers you paint onto some of the weed leaves.I definitely wouldn't use it near anything I was going to eat though


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[Two_Sheds]

do you know what kind of grass it is?

Look at the roots: if they're fine and very short, it's annual grass (a pain, and needs pulling up before it sets seed).
If they're long white & brittle like spaghetti, it's couch grass with spreads by seed and by root cuttings. You need to dig it all out before you plant anything, or it will just overrun and smother your veggies

[taff]

what weeds are they?
Dandelions can be dug up, carefully....bindweed is a swine to get of, keep pullling before it has enough leaves to live in spite of pulling or twine on a stick and paint with w/killer.
Herb william also a swine, dig carefully, if you attempt to pull it, it'll snap the leaves off and leave the root there.
willowherbs are asy to pull out.

Nettles will have to be removed including the yellow roots otherwise it'll just regrow.

[Knight of Albion]

Lever up long rooted 'weeds' like dandelion with a trowel. Ditto bindweed and nettles.

Clumps of grass should be 'dug' out with a hoe and removed or they'll reset themselves.

For everything else, use a hoe. If you hoe early morning when the sun is strong, the sun will finish the weeds off way better than any weed killer - and it won't poison your food crop or the soil.

[jacob]

If you've got grass clippings or similar, then I'd suggest mulching to suppress weeds. But some weeding if just part of gardening life.

[kathyd]

I weed the bed, then spread my junk mail in layers 2 or 3 sheets thick between plants, and top it off with an inch or two of grass clippings (no weed killer used on the grass either!). This seems to set quite hard eventually, and form a kind of crust which keeps the moisture in and the weeds down for ages. They'll come through again eventually, but much slower than before, and you can top up the mulch during the growing season if you need to. Don't let the grass actually touch the stems of your plants though, because it might rot them, leave a small gap between (even 1/2 inch is enough ).

[icom102]

Hi all i seen potato fields everywhere and there nice and clean just the potatoes growing and i look at mine and see weeds as well was the others sprayed first ? its just grass and chickweed

[BertieFox]

Those potato fields have been dowsed and dowsed again in glyphosate ('Roundup') which far from being environmentally friendly and 'inactivated on contact with the soil', kills invertebrates in vast numbers, pollutes water courses, and has been implicated in human health problems. Why are you so worried about a few weeds? Potatoes will mostly outgrow the weed crops, or the weeds can be pulled out or removed in the earthing up process. The overall crop from potatoes won't be massively affected by a few weeds. Too many of us worry about the cosmetic appearance of our plots, when we could all tolerate many more weeds, which actually help build soil fertility in the long run.

[Knight of Albion]

Those potato fields have been dowsed and dowsed again in glyphosate ('Roundup') which far from being environmentally friendly and 'inactivated on contact with the soil', kills invertebrates in vast numbers, pollutes water courses, and has been implicated in human health problems. Why are you so worried about a few weeds? Potatoes will mostly outgrow the weed crops, or the weeds can be pulled out or removed in the earthing up process. The overall crop from potatoes won't be massively affected by a few weeds. Too many of us worry about the cosmetic appearance of our plots, when we could all tolerate many more weeds, which actually help build soil fertility in the long run.

An excellent point, dear Bertie.

[icom102]

so the idea to so spray roundup next year?

[Greenleaves]

But their spuds wont taste as good as yours! Annual weeds have one job, grow and sow hence their accelerated growth

[veggiechicken]

so the idea to so spray roundup next year?

No!!!
The idea is to do some weeding and mulching. You can't beat a bit of weeding to clear the soil and its free.
Seriously, stay away from roundup, it doesn't only kill weeds.