how long to drown twitch please?

  • 14 Replies
  • 4121 Views
*

Madame Cholet

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Thrapston=Home & garden Lotty=Ringstead East Northants
  • 10287
  • remember you're a womble
how long to drown twitch please?
« on: November 27, 2011, 21:26 »
before it goes on the compost?
Diary at- http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=85680.75

Comments at- http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=85681.15

To good friends, good food and dirty hands

Underground overground wombling free

*

bazh

  • Experienced Member
  • ***
  • Location: Perth
  • 302
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #1 on: November 28, 2011, 09:24 »
Everything I've read suggests 2-4 weeks so I'd be cautious and go with 4 weeks, just make sure it's fully submerged by putting something heavy on top.
Faff free zone!

*

bigben

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Sheffield
  • 1057
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #2 on: November 28, 2011, 14:55 »
I tried this method with a load of weeds on my previous allotment. I used one of those blue barrels and kept adding them. It worked for the first lot but once I got to within about 6inches of the water level the dock plants kept growing out of the water! I now put them in a black bin bag with a brick in it and drop this into the water.

*

rowlandwells

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: northamptonshire
  • 3150
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #3 on: November 28, 2011, 18:46 »
i know this may sound silly but why do you need to drown twitch what's the advantage of doing this? :unsure:

*

jenw

  • New Member
  • *
  • 11
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #4 on: November 28, 2011, 19:26 »
Does this work with bind weed too and dandilion roots as I have loads?

*

sunshineband

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Reading, Berkshire
  • 32056
  • Tallest Sunflower prizewinner 2014
    • A Little Bit of Sunshine
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2011, 19:29 »
Does this work with bind weed too and dandilion roots as I have loads?

Yes it does  :D  So does leaving them on the path to dessicate when it is sunny  :D

And Rowland, the point of it is to kill 'em dead dead dead, so they don't continue to grow in the compost heap, but you can still add them and benefit from their organic matter  :D :D
Wisdom is knowing what to ignore - be comfortable in your own skin.
My Blog
My Diary
My Diary Comments

*

Madame Cholet

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Thrapston=Home & garden Lotty=Ringstead East Northants
  • 10287
  • remember you're a womble
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #6 on: November 28, 2011, 20:11 »
thanks for the great advice the 1st  lot went under today ill try the drying in the summer
too.

*

bazh

  • Experienced Member
  • ***
  • Location: Perth
  • 302
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #7 on: November 28, 2011, 20:22 »
thanks for the great advice the 1st  lot went under today ill try the drying in the summer
too.

If your still digging them out come the spring/summer try putting them in a black bin liner with some fresh grass cuttings (50/50) it will melt them totally after a week or so you just have sludge left which can then be safely added to the compost heap. This method will work with bindweed too.

For bindweed roots if you have any sheep nearby feed it to them they absolutely love the stuff.

*

rowlandwells

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: northamptonshire
  • 3150
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #8 on: November 29, 2011, 16:54 »
hello! sunshineband just a couple of questions for you on this subject because i may be loosing the thread here on the question of twitch if its the twitch ime thinking of does it have a grass like appearance with  white roots and it rapidly grows through the summer months ?

because i was always told to fork twitch out of the ground as the best method so say it was in the potatoes i would  fork it out shaking the dirt off it and leave it to wilt on top of the ground usually the best month for this is June  :(

on the subject of bind weed we have  bind weed if its what i think it is bind the weed weed has been on our ground for at least 60 years and has long white roots that snap off easily when digging out the ground and the smallest of these roots multiply and it has a small white trumpet like flower it grows profusely in our garden :mad:

its a real real pest I've dug it out sprayed it and still it comes back every year so what are you doing ime not :)

*

bazh

  • Experienced Member
  • ***
  • Location: Perth
  • 302
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #9 on: November 29, 2011, 18:41 »
hello! sunshineband just a couple of questions for you on this subject because i may be loosing the thread here on the question of twitch if its the twitch ime thinking of does it have a grass like appearance with  white roots and it rapidly grows through the summer months ?

because i was always told to fork twitch out of the ground as the best method so say it was in the potatoes i would  fork it out shaking the dirt off it and leave it to wilt on top of the ground usually the best month for this is June  :(

on the subject of bind weed we have  bind weed if its what i think it is bind the weed weed has been on our ground for at least 60 years and has long white roots that snap off easily when digging out the ground and the smallest of these roots multiply and it has a small white trumpet like flower it grows profusely in our garden :mad:

its a real real pest I've dug it out sprayed it and still it comes back every year so what are you doing ime not :)

Your right in your description of twitch/couch grass, don't want to speak for sunshineband but sure her advice would be to only do it on a path and in hot weather if left on open ground it would be likely to re-root.

Again your right in your description of bindweed and yes it's a right bugg3r to completely get rid of. I'm in the process of trying to dig out as much as I can from an area of my allotment it currently has a 15 year old apple tree it likes to climb but I want to cut down the tree but need to bring the bindweed under control because if it doesn't have the tree it will want to go elsewhere!

*

sunshineband

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Reading, Berkshire
  • 32056
  • Tallest Sunflower prizewinner 2014
    • A Little Bit of Sunshine
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #10 on: November 29, 2011, 18:47 »
Yes, the grass with those devilish white roots is twitch (or couch) grass and digging it out is the best way to deal with it, every little bit whenever you see it.

You can kill it by drying it out or drowning it, or burning come to that

Bindweed does have white trumpet shaped flowers and it is shame that the twining stems are such a nuisance as they are very pretty imho. The big variety with the three inch across flowers looks lovely, and the small flowered pink and white one gorgeous too.

To kill it by spraying you have to keep at it over and over again.

I pull up every single pice I see as soon as it is long enough to get hold of it, slowly and gently and never ever put any in the compost unless it is well and truly dead.

I don't think you win, just reduce it to manageable proportions, although I live in hope  :D

Turn your back and it rampages like mad  :ohmy:

*

jenw

  • New Member
  • *
  • 11
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #11 on: November 29, 2011, 21:56 »
I am going to start putting all my bind weed into a couple of large buckets with lids on over winter and try and drown the *!  ::)

*

savbo

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Rusholme, Manchester
  • 1742
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #12 on: November 30, 2011, 09:28 »
some of my fellow plotholders are drowning horsetail...and will use the water afterwards as a soil tonic!

*

sunshineband

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Reading, Berkshire
  • 32056
  • Tallest Sunflower prizewinner 2014
    • A Little Bit of Sunshine
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #13 on: November 30, 2011, 18:41 »
Using the water that you hve drowned weeds in to add to the compost as well makes good use of all the nutrients availalble  :D

*

Madame Cholet

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Thrapston=Home & garden Lotty=Ringstead East Northants
  • 10287
  • remember you're a womble
Re: how long to drown twitch please?
« Reply #14 on: December 01, 2011, 07:48 »
I've got lots of cardboard I thought about layering it with the sludge



xx
How long to drown weeds roots?

Started by fatbelly on Grow Your Own

3 Replies
2613 Views
Last post July 09, 2007, 22:25
by weeeed
xx
How Long To Cover Twitch

Started by Madame Cholet on Grow Your Own

15 Replies
3466 Views
Last post June 17, 2014, 21:59
by Madame Cholet
xx
twitch roots

Started by m1ckz on Grow Your Own

17 Replies
2727 Views
Last post May 18, 2011, 14:40
by Springlands
xx
Twitch Grass

Started by Jo-n-Neil on Grow Your Own

3 Replies
2046 Views
Last post February 03, 2008, 21:48
by cawdor2001
 

Page created in 0.314 seconds with 39 queries.

Powered by SMFPacks Social Login Mod
Powered by SMFPacks SEO Pro Mod |