[detox]

 :unsure:I have just aquired an allotment. Im a complete novice really, and am put off by the amount of weeds such as bindweed and lots of other stuff. Iwonder if i should just put weedkiller on the lot and start work when its all dead? I keep a couple of laying hens and grow as much food as i can in my yard but i idont want to dig the lawn up for veggies as the kids use it for football etc... thus why i have an allotment. please dont shout at me for mentioning weedkiller! :happy:

[Sue33]

hello detox, welcome to the message boards, it;s pretty much each to their own regarding chemicals, it's your choice  it can be rather daunting taking on an allotment as most of us on here will agree.  In my experience you will always have weeds, so I try to "see" the vast abundance of fruit and veg on the plot and try not get disheartened by all the weeds.  Personally, we went down the dig a bed, plant in it, then move on and do another bed, little by little it's amazing what can be achieved, you can always cover over say half of the plot. However many have blitzed their plots with weedkiller and that works for them.  BTW whereabouts are you?  We love pictures on the forum, any chance 

[detox]

  thankyou for replying, and will take on the good advice and do a little at a time, i will dig a little sweat a little then take lots of photos each time so that i can see im making  progress Ilive in coventry and there are plenty of allotments to be had so am very lucky!

[titch]

you have got plenty of time to sort it before next year, as suee 33 says a little at a time, bindweed is persistant so either dig out all the roots or just keep on pulling up the bits that sprout, eventually (it takes a good few years tho) it will stop growing as you will exhasust the plant by constantly nipping it in the bud so to speak
good luck with it all tho, very satisfying when you get a bit cleared, dont forget if you dont plant in the bit you have cleared for a while then cover with some black plastic, will keep the weeds at bay a bit (dont use green tarp, enough light gets through that )

[Ivor Backache]

We are coming to the end of the growing season and that applies to weeds as well. I prefer to dig in late autumn/early winter when most of the produce is out. The frost can work on the bugs etc. But I will still have parsnips, swede and winter brassica.
In the meanyime I will hoe weeds to stop them seeding and keep the plot weed free. They can be raked up and put on the compost heap.

[chili]

am a novice and just come to the end of my first year, if ya have bindweed do not rotovate, i did and suffered for it.
have done part of my plot on hands and knees and part with chemicals both bits are pretty clear now, so 'id say its your choice if you use chemicals or not.
now it takes me all of 10 minutes to get rid of the little bits that still grow

[Salmo]

If there is plenty of green leaf on weeds, especially bindweed, now is a perfect time to apply glyphosate weedkiller.

The best known is Roundup but there are various other cheaper weedkillers on the market that also contain glyphosate. It is cheaper to buy the concentrate form and dilute it rather than buy the ready mixed.

There are several rules that will make the glyphosate work properly. All of these are on the container.

1. Glyphosate acts through green leaves and travels down through the roots so do not mess it about by chopping or digging first.
2. Choose a fine day. Glyphosate needs 6 hours of dry weather after application to allow it to penetrate the leaves.
3.The first signs of the chemical working are the growing centres going pale. That will happen after about a week. From then on the top growth will progressivly die.  Leave the weeds alone for about 10 days. After that you can dig them out or leave them where they are to die. Start by cutting everything off at ground level and removing, which will make it easier to dig. If there is any regrowth it may be from roots that had no leaves when you sprayed or it may be a bit that you missed. Whatever, re-spray when it has some decent leaf to take the spray.

You can plant or sow seeds immediately.
Glyphosate has a very low toxicity level. The wetters in it are more toxic than the glyphosate.

In my opinion drying to dig out roots without killing them first it hard work.

[cudders]

When I got the plot I did a bit of both..

The areas I wasnt going to dig straight away got round-up followed by plastic sheeting..Have to say this did a great job.

The first bed was hand dug and then the same for all the others..No need for round-up now.. I hand dig the large ones and hoe the rest.. There are very few weeds now in one bed and much less in the others..They will always be there but and manageble now.

Cudders.

[Brambles]

As I do the gardening all myself, I divided and concentrated on one bed for a year, covering the rest with black covering and cardboard.   Every year I added another bed until now I have five beds... it worked well for me, especially as I wanted to grow organically... but that is just MY preference.   I could not have tackled all the plot in one hit by myself....  Don't ask too much of yourself or you will not enjoy your gardening...

[detox]

Thankyou for your replies. I have been to the range and bought some round up concentrate which covers aprox 280square meters so will be down there tomorrow to start weeding and fingers crossed all will be dead after ten days and i can start to dig over the earth. Cant wait to get started now! 

[Babyshoes]

I am glad you have decided to use the glyphosphate - we are coming to the end of our first year on the allotment and really should have used it on the bindweed first, rather than trying to dig it all out by hand - there is always a bit of root left, and if you don't hoe it quickly it spreads like mad. Since we both work, we only get to the allotment about once a week, twice if we need to plant / harvest stuff, and the weeds are getting a bit much for us at the moment!

I am going to use it now, but it is much more difficult to use once you have crops growing as you need to find ways of avoiding the crops! (Not impossible, but you can't spray...)

[Lardman]

I was clearing my patch by hand. Its certainly quicker for weeds that play fair. Dock, bramble, nettles and creeping buttercup etc but bindweed is a real nightmare. Every little bit of root you miss will germinate and from below a spade depth too, I've bought round up specifically for the bindweed it gets squirted where ever and when ever I see it.

[MoreWhisky]

There is always a patch somewhere on my plot to weed , its like painting the fourth road bridge.

I normally notice the next patch when i finally sit down outside my shed for a brew.

Remeber you will never beat the weeds just do a good job of controlling them.

[Mr Bean]

I was interested in the comment by Tich about not using Green plastic Tarpauline as I was planning on buying several of these to help combat the weeds. These tarpaulins are reasonably priced and easier to manage and secure than black plastic. I think they would have a longer life too.
They do an identical blue one. Does anyone know if these are more opaque?