Tweet
I know that this has been covered on the forum before, but there's not much on it other than spraying/injecting it.
I've got half a plot, the top half of it, which backs onto some housing has a real bad infestation of knotweed. It's starting to grow now, I can see the buds forming.
The main problem is, I want to try and be as organic as possible about getting rid of it. People on the site have sprayed it with a strong mix of glyphosate, but after briefly reading about the negative effects as of late about it - I don't want to use it. It's rife between all my established fruit bushes that I inherited on the plot. It's right where I was about to put my compost bins, and new fruit area.
I'm not sure if I should contact the Environment Agency myself, although it has been reported apparently.. The last thing I'd want is for them to come in and spray the lot. As harsh as it sounds, all the older generation of plot holders are saying to spray it, but at the end of the day they've what - 10/20 years to live at max? I've probably 60 odd, plus my young kiddies have their whole life ahead of them. I don't want to be eaten food that's been in the same ground, or has had spray drift and then taken down by the plant. Side-effects of using such herbicides might not materialise within 10/20 years, but heck - what about my kids? I don't want them having any effects from this later on in life - or even their kids, if they have them.
Soooo.. as said, the general advice is to wait until full growth before it starts to take back all the sugars etc back into the roots, then spray/inject/dip the leaves in a strong mix. My brother in law is licensed to use a very strong mix, so has told me about using it.. I'm just bothered about using it. The ground where it is, has been filled in, which used to be a natural spring, so it's very wet - this is also a concern - I don't want anything nasty getting into any water-supply.
I could cover, but it's probably pointless. I could ask to move plots, but I'll be going on another 3-5year waiting list, by which time the knotweed will have probably engulfed my main growing area.
I could remove all the fruit bushes, and trees that are there then dip the leaves/wipe them -- but then what am I to do with the land? Resting wise, not growing edibles (frowned upon by the committee).
Starting to dream about the bladdy stuff. I realise it's probably already under most of my plot, but it's not showing itself anywhere else yet. I'm concerned that the home owners may lean over and spray it too.
The weed was brought in by the firm that built the houses, and back filled the gardens/area around - some plot holders who have had their plots for 60 years have confirmed it wasn't around until after the houses were built and the gardens were filled in.
Kind of at a loss really - not sure which method to take. I don't want it spreading all over the site due to me, but I don't want to risk any disease/horrible effects to my family, nor do I want to give up my plot!!
I've been toying with just keep digging it out, bit by bit, constantly, daily and storing the bits of roots in a sealed bin, until it's dry enough to burn. I do realise it's going to be a hard slog to do this, but the ground is good and easy to dig - so it can't be as difficult as the ground I've been working with at home. If it takes ~3 years to get rid of by spraying, I'm sure that it'll take twice as long, if not longer by constantly digging it out - eventually it should weaken it - or is it false hope?
Not after sympathy or anything like that - just perhaps a bit of advice about dealing with it as organically as possible, and erm probably needed to vent too
I've got half a plot, the top half of it, which backs onto some housing has a real bad infestation of knotweed. It's starting to grow now, I can see the buds forming.
The main problem is, I want to try and be as organic as possible about getting rid of it. People on the site have sprayed it with a strong mix of glyphosate, but after briefly reading about the negative effects as of late about it - I don't want to use it. It's rife between all my established fruit bushes that I inherited on the plot. It's right where I was about to put my compost bins, and new fruit area.
I'm not sure if I should contact the Environment Agency myself, although it has been reported apparently.. The last thing I'd want is for them to come in and spray the lot. As harsh as it sounds, all the older generation of plot holders are saying to spray it, but at the end of the day they've what - 10/20 years to live at max? I've probably 60 odd, plus my young kiddies have their whole life ahead of them. I don't want to be eaten food that's been in the same ground, or has had spray drift and then taken down by the plant. Side-effects of using such herbicides might not materialise within 10/20 years, but heck - what about my kids? I don't want them having any effects from this later on in life - or even their kids, if they have them.
Soooo.. as said, the general advice is to wait until full growth before it starts to take back all the sugars etc back into the roots, then spray/inject/dip the leaves in a strong mix. My brother in law is licensed to use a very strong mix, so has told me about using it.. I'm just bothered about using it. The ground where it is, has been filled in, which used to be a natural spring, so it's very wet - this is also a concern - I don't want anything nasty getting into any water-supply.
I could cover, but it's probably pointless. I could ask to move plots, but I'll be going on another 3-5year waiting list, by which time the knotweed will have probably engulfed my main growing area.
I could remove all the fruit bushes, and trees that are there then dip the leaves/wipe them -- but then what am I to do with the land? Resting wise, not growing edibles (frowned upon by the committee).
Starting to dream about the bladdy stuff. I realise it's probably already under most of my plot, but it's not showing itself anywhere else yet. I'm concerned that the home owners may lean over and spray it too.
The weed was brought in by the firm that built the houses, and back filled the gardens/area around - some plot holders who have had their plots for 60 years have confirmed it wasn't around until after the houses were built and the gardens were filled in.
Kind of at a loss really - not sure which method to take. I don't want it spreading all over the site due to me, but I don't want to risk any disease/horrible effects to my family, nor do I want to give up my plot!!
I've been toying with just keep digging it out, bit by bit, constantly, daily and storing the bits of roots in a sealed bin, until it's dry enough to burn. I do realise it's going to be a hard slog to do this, but the ground is good and easy to dig - so it can't be as difficult as the ground I've been working with at home. If it takes ~3 years to get rid of by spraying, I'm sure that it'll take twice as long, if not longer by constantly digging it out - eventually it should weaken it - or is it false hope?
Not after sympathy or anything like that - just perhaps a bit of advice about dealing with it as organically as possible, and erm probably needed to vent too
Even if you take the organic approach the others on site/the council probably won't. So will their sprays leach into your soil and the watercourse. Are you going to be able to isolate your plot from the rest of the site? I doubt it.
Comment