Homeowners have put a lot of time and money to get their gardens planted. Now is not the time to allow weeds to grow. A good weed control should continue even after the vegetables have been harvested.
Weeds in the vegetable garden compete for water, nutrients, and sunlight. In many cases, the weeds are faster growing than the vegetable plant providing shelter for insect pests and making harvest difficult. Weed seeds left to overwinter in the garden, will be ready to grow in the spring.
Some crops such as onions, carrots, strawberries, lettuce and spinach need intense weeding because their tops don’t grow large enough to shade sunlight from weeds. On the other hand, Brussels sprouts, stacked tomatoes and corn once past the seedling stage, require comparatively minimal weeding. They provide enough shade to reduce weed competition during the growing season but are less competitive in the fall.
Annual weeds germinate, flower and die back in one season. However, their seeds are extremely plentiful and are spread by gardeners, mulches, manure, compost, birds, animals, wind and rain. Removing the seeds remove the weeds from the garden.
Perennial weeds live on through winter, although they may die back. They reproduce from underground bulbs, rhizomes or crowns on taproots. Many perennial weeds are common in both lawn and garden and can even be grown for lawn, such as Bermuda grass. Digging them up is the best control for perennial weeds especially before they overwinter in the fall.
The cardinal rule of weed control is always keep weeds out. Hand-pull all weeds as soon as they appear. Never let them go to seed in the garden or in the surrounding area. Bermudagrass, Johnsongrass, nutsedge grass and dallisgrass are invasive plants and once started can consume the whole garden.
Gardeners should make certain that all commercially purchased soil additives, manure or mulches are certified as weed-free. Even then be vigilant to catch any weeds that might appear when using these products. Fresh manure is loaded with weed seeds because animals feed outdoors. Compost fresh manure and make certain that the temperatures get hot enough to kill weed seeds.
Another weed source is seeds set out for wild birds. These birdseed containers should be placed far enough away that seeds are not dropped into the garden area.
Methods of weed control in the vegetable garden include hand weeding, cultivation, mulching, solarization and some herbicides. These methods are often used in combination, depending on the garden crop and area.
Pulling weeds by hand doesn’t always work since even a portion of some weeds, such as dandelion, will quickly regrow into an entire plant. Gardeners must remove all crowns, tuber and rhizome segments and this means digging deep. Various implements are available to make weeding more effective including hand tines, weeding hoes and rotary tillers.
Mulching is probably the best weed control method. Weeds will come up earlier than the vegetables, crowding out the desirable crop. By applying weed-blocking mulch early, vegetable seedlings can get a head start on the weeds. Also, mulch keeps the soil cool, moist and can be tilled under as organic matter for next season’s growth.
Soil solarization is becoming a popular way to decrease weeds as well as insect pest. Solarization involves using the rays of the sun to bake out problems. This source of weed control requires clear polyethylene plastic and temperatures above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Solarization works best in the hottest months of summer. Solarization should not be used when the vegetable plants have already been planted.
Using herbicides is an option if weeds cannot be satisfactorily controlled by other means. However, gardeners need to use caution because some vegetables are susceptible cousins to the weeds that are being controlled. Learn what weeds are present and select the proper herbicide.
Jim Coe lives in Lawton.
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June 11, 2020 at 01:00PM
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