weed project

praha · Nov 19, 2008

I bought a black dirt last year for my organic garden and all I had this year was a w e e d

garden. THICK. its about 100x 100 ft.

What implement should I use to get rid of it. I'll buy it, cultivator?, tiller? I have Kubota 3400, and only potatoe plow for a land "management".
Any idea?

Thanks,
Joe

polo1665 · Nov 19, 2008

Boy, you had better be careful. Growing weed in the Chicago suburbs can get you in a lot of trouble. Whatever you do don't burn it.

zionview · Nov 19, 2008

Tillage would be your simplest answer. Till when you see weeds that are just seedlings, only a half inch or so tall. They are easy to kill at that stage, and tillage is still easy. The bigger they are, the harder it is to work them, and the more nutrients they are tying up. A disc is my choice for shallow tillage. Spring tooth harrows would work, but occasionally they drag weeds around and redistribute them. If you decide to rototill, you can rototill lightly, or till deep and plant a cover crop to provide competition.

Maxfli · Nov 19, 2008

I till about a 40' by 50' garden as well also Chicagoland. Have a 42" Rototiller behind the tractor. Last year I had a ton of weeds as well. This year we had a better handle on it, but it still wasn't perfect. At the end of the season this year (3rd Week in September) I tilled everything in for the winter and broadcast Preen over the area. I think there was plenty of time for germinantion of weeds after the September tilling and so far there is not a weed in the garden. Hopefully next year will be better yet!

kthompson · Nov 19, 2008

praha said:
I bought a black dirt last year for my organic garden and all I had this year was a w e e d

garden. THICK. its about 100x 100 ft.

What implement should I use to get rid of it. I'll buy it, cultivator?, tiller? I have Kubota 3400, and only potatoe plow for a land "management".
Any idea?

Thanks,
Joe

For the size garden you have, black plastic with holes punched in it with pitch fork before being unfolded for water to seep through and make a nice "X" at each plant. Or several sheets of news paper (best use of new print today) to cover the ground around the plant. No idea of what plant they grow there like this but strawberry and tomatoes here. Watch out for mice under the plastic which then may mean snakes under the plastic. You will also have cleaner crops. If you are planting a row so close to each other you don't want to cut an "X" for each plant just pull the plastic up close to the plants. You can also use flower bed mulch material if you desire, it will let water through but I like the heat build up under the plastic as it warms the soil. Believe it or not, Red plastic us suppose to make tomatoes grow better. You can place a little bit of dirt in piles along to hold this down.

kthompson · Nov 19, 2008

polo1665 said:
Boy, you had better be careful. Growing weed in the Chicago suburbs can get you in a lot of trouble. Whatever you do don't burn it.

Don't you mean elected?

praha · Nov 20, 2008

polo1665 said:
Boy, you had better be careful. Growing weed in the Chicago suburbs can get you in a lot of trouble. Whatever you do don't burn it.[/QUOT

HAHA, thanks for your great advise. Arbeit, Arbeit, Immer viele arbeit" maybe arbeit macht frei would be more propriet for your signature.....

Joe

praha · Nov 20, 2008

Thank you guys,

I have a field of weed 15 inches long and it is VERY THICK. IT has to be killed somehow/without chem./

If I use a rototiller 10 times over , I will have even more weeds, am I correct. THE only way is to remove it piece by piece....with my hand....????? Isn't it.
I bought a nice dirt... black and rich looking...no weeds of course, and it looks like it came from a river bank. Thick heavy grass started to grow, right in the spring....

Thanks for your help/opinion.

I've never had a garden before. But I Am going to change my garden. I will bring fresh crop to my garden. With your help I am going to bring a new era to my garden . Yes I can. Yes, we can.Thank you for your support.

Joe

firefighter9208 · Nov 20, 2008

The weeds are coming up from the seeds. Till and let the weeds come up. When they are 1" to 2" tall till again. Let the weeds come up. Till again. Over and over.... Get the idea??

Once you have basically gotten all the weed seeds in the soil to germinate you shouldn't have any more weeds. Then the weeds that do come up in your garden need to be pulled by hand BEFORE they go to seed. One pigweed can have over 1 million (yes 1,000,000) seeds.

That's why farmers used to use a turning plow. When you bury the seeds 10" to 12" deep in the ground they can't germinate.

Now many crops are "Round--UP Ready". They no-till or drill the crop in and spray the weeds with roundup. A couple applications of roundup during the growing of the crop and no weeds or erosion.

Of course now some pigweed have developed a resistance to Round-up and is devestating the peanut, cotton, soybean, and corn crops in Georgia. This Round-up resistant strain of Pigweed is now spreading to Alabama and Georgia.

Chris