Allotment evils - could cry with frustration

ally18

Farway wrote: »

Just spray with Roundup, it works

You may need to repeat again

But when banging head on wall gives you a head ache, stop doing it

I did think of that but got a frown from the elderly plot holder next door and a "no, absolutely not, pull em up" reply.

AlanS

Farway wrote: »

Just spray with Roundup, it works

You may need to repeat again

But when banging head on wall gives you a head ache, stop doing it

Or use Tumbleweed instead. Made by the same company who makes Roundup, the same strength as Roundup only it's much cheaper

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TumbleWeed-Glyphosate-Liquid-Concentrate-Weedkiller/dp/B0017RMJ68/

Alternatively, Tesco are selling 1 litre of Dobbies weedkiller concentrate which is 75% the strength of round up for £6 a litre ( was £8 until recently ) ..... I've been using it, and it works just as well as Roundup. Just add a little extra when making up your batch !

Linda32

ally18 wrote: »

Ive been told that I will be removing the couch grass for the next few years.

You will be and longer so as said previously, try not to worry to much about weeds. Some are of benifit, although not couch grass I grant you! If you have nettles, well they are fussy and don't just grow in any old carp soil

I have a row of potatoes in, 3 square beds of onions, some cabbages and what were 5 cauliflowers. I believe I have fed the local pigeons with those. I put 8 swedes in last weekend and have two runner bean plants growing.

Thats quite a lot if you only took it on last year. I take my hat off to you We have had ours for about 6 years now and it took us a couple of years to make the whole lot into working beds.

With regards to the cabbages and cauliflowers, have a google at the term 'brassicas' these always need netting over them whilst they are young as you have found. The product should say to protect crops, not pea and bean netting as the holes are too big.

If it helps at all the warm and wet weather is also perfect growing weather for your produce.

Do you like strawberries at all? these are an easy maintenance free crop. You buy plants one year and they last for three years, generally, staying in the ground all year round with no bother from frost or snow etc.

All things being equal they set flowers by themselves, grow fruit by themselves.

They do take a few hours of your time once a year to put straw under the plants. I use new pet bedding. You shove handfulls under the plants and this keeps the strawberries off the ground. You do need to net these as well as the birds like these as well.

I've got grass growing in amongst mine but quite a few green (so far) strawberries as well so the grass growing hasn't bothered them one jot.

One other thing, the original strawberry plants grow babies, known as runners which you can cut from the original plant to make plant as new plants (or they will root themselves anyway) this new plant for free is as if you had just bought it from the shop.

HTH and remember its a hobby and Mother Nature always has the final say anyway.

forgotmyname

Dig every little bit of root out that you come across. Leaving a tiny bit of root and a new weed will emerge.

After weeding cover with carpet or a thick black plastic. Any piece of ground your not planting in needs to be covered.

When you lift the plastic you will see the weeds that started to grow but a lack of light makes them weak. Easier to dig out and remove.

Choochi0

Just wanted to reflect what others are saying. Cover the area not used. I asked on freecycle and was given some huge plastic sheeting that had been used to cover building supplies.
In regards to weeds in the beds, you just have to keep working on them. Getting as much of the weed and root you can - so not the hoe as that only gets the top, but digging it out.
Once I have got on top of digging out weeds (if ever!) I'm going to look at the no dig solution so I'd like to know more about that too.
Good luck. Don't let the weeds get you down. The first few years (at least) are about learning your plot and what it will grow best for you - other than weeds!

ally18

Linda32 wrote: »

I have a row of potatoes in, 3 square beds of onions, some cabbages and what were 5 cauliflowers. I believe I have fed the local pigeons with those. I put 8 swedes in last weekend and have two runner bean plants growing.

Thats quite a lot if you only took it on last year. I take my hat off to you We have had ours for about 6 years now and it took us a couple of years to make the whole lot into working beds.

Do you like strawberries at all? these are an easy maintenance free crop. You buy plants one year and they last for three years, generally, staying in the ground all year round with no bother from frost or snow etc.

HTH and remember its a hobby and Mother Nature always has the final say anyway.

Hi Linda, thanks for your comments. I actually am very new to this, I got my allotment at the end of February this year so am just over 3 months in.

Only half the plot is dug and the above are planted in this area. The other half is knee high in weeds but the membrane is coming next week so will cover all this over. All I have been doing each weekend is removing weeds from around the things set.

I think I made a mistake in how I set about the plot tbh. At the foremost edge of the plot, I have a row of rhubarb, then a walkway, then I set 2 rows of early potatoes. Another blank space for walkway and I used long bits of wood to make out two rectangle beds about 6 x 4 which have different onions in. In front of these, two more rectangular beds, 1 again with onions and the other has the cabbages and cauliflower in. There is a walkway in the shape of a cross inbetween these four beds if you follow. The runner bean wigwams are in front of one of the beds, I only put two up and the swedes are in a little bed at the side of these.

The areas I have as walkways are covered in weeds and I think this doesn't help. I should have put something down to start off with to stop the weeds but I didn't know it was going to be so bad. By the way I have been pulling these up constantly as well. I plan to change how I set it out next year.

At the opposite end of the plot, I built my compost bin and put in 2 gooseberry plants and 1 blueberry plus my strawberry runners I found in my garden at home. This end appears to attract the thistles no end. Again, I am trying to weed here as well.

ally18

forgotmyname wrote: »

When you lift the plastic you will see the weeds that started to grow but a lack of light makes them weak. Easier to dig out and remove.

Will they still grow under the membrane then? :eek:

ally18

Choochi0 wrote: »

Once I have got on top of digging out weeds (if ever!) I'm going to look at the no dig solution so I'd like to know more about that too.
Good luck. Don't let the weeds get you down. The first few years (at least) are about learning your plot and what it will grow best for you - other than weeds!

Thanks, I've decided that this is the only way to look at it for now, it is all about learning and experimenting so hopefully next year, I will be able to plan it better from the start

I could get a gold star award for my thistles at the moment.

ukmaggie45

forgotmyname wrote: »

After weeding cover with carpet or a thick black plastic.

Do NOT use carpet - we took over a half lottie around this time last year, concentrated on the the easier stuff in front of the half shed we share with our Plot Mate. The stuff to the right of the shed had carpet on it. My OH started digging it out this spring... Then earlier this year they had an Allotment Work Day, which unfortunately we didn't get to (we did the Autumn one last year though ) due to family commitments. Our next door neighbour and our Plot Mate and another member of the community decided to give us a helping hand and take the the carpet out for us... They found it was actually 4 carpets on top of each other! :eek: :eek: :eek: I am now slowly working on digging out the bindweed and couch grass and we'll be covering as we dig - in fact we have cheapo weed suppressant down at the mo that we peel back to dig under. But we intend to buy the better stuff from our lottie shop maybe this weekend if it's dry on Sunday (we seem to be promised thunder and maybe hail and a yellow Met Office Alert for rain on Saturday :eek: ).

I've been rather upset that my lovely beans and tall sugar snap peas have been attacked - prob by the pigeons. But there's mice too. We have a few "spares", thought not enough to replace what's gone. We did treat quite a lot of the plot with nemaslug as last year it was the &*(^&^&&* slugs that did in the beans! Though I had more spares back then, and they came good in the end - we only just finished the frozen ones about a month ago.

But we'll keep fighting the fight, though I'm trying to persuade OH that it would be a good idea to invest in a lot of bird netting and build some cages for the plants. He's not keen on spending the cash. (this is where in the past I'd insert the roll eyes smilie!) Even though it would be ME spending the cash! (roll eyes smilie again! )

Dizzy_Ditzy

I got the keys to my allotment a few days ago, and have been there today digging and hand sifting for roots

I've got a lot to do but I've put glyphosphate down on half of it so that's less for me to do, then I'm going up with the strummer tomorrow to make it all look a bit less scary!

I've got bindweed :mad: and thistles and some other stuff :eek:

I'm watching this thread with both eyes open