[Mc-llotment]

Morning all, Ive been reading the numerous pages on this site and it is full of brilliant info and personal tales!!! However, I'm new to the allotment game and ive just taken the keys to my plot which is in need of a little TLC shall we say. Ive been advised to use weedkiller (Round-Up Pro-biactive) to suppress the weeds then rotavate once they are dead?
Q1 - Is this the way forward?
Q2 - Will i get any use out of the plot this year or shall i concentrate on preping the soil for the spring?

After all you guys are the experts!! Thank you in advance for any info!

[orfy]

To tell you the truth.

The best weed killer is non!

But dependant on how bad it it then it may not be viable.
I forked my full plot over and removed by hand. (With assistance)
I haven't used any on my plot.

Others do use round up but even so a Rotavator can cause problems. If you can do it without then it is better.

[lucywil]

same here, the only chemicals we use are slug pellets, but if this is the route you want to take then round up (or Glyphosate) seems to be the one most people go for.

[richyrich7]

Hi and welcome to the forums Mc-llotment  

Depends on your view point about weedkillers, I have no worries about using weedkiller, personally I'd go with what you have said spray leave for about 14 days you will see the weeds start to die by then & then rotovate.

You could get in overwintering onions and garlic this year also you can sow cauliflower now for next spring.

Make sure you keep on top of the weeds as they will come back, you can hoe around the plants you have in and spray off the rest again especially if we have a mild autumn.

[jono2507]

Is there anything specific we could use to destroy brambles?

[richyrich7]

Is there anything specific we could use to destroy brambles?

Difficult as the weed killer choice is becoming more and more limited also as they have reasonable size root system they may be better off dug up. sorry  

Glyphosate based weedkillers do work on brambles, but it will need repeated sprayings over a number of seasons.

[Pompey Spud]

Hi Mc

To clear the brambles, invest in an Azada & a Sickle. Great tools especially the Azada.

I brought these last week to clear some ground. They never stood a chance + I wasn't that knackered.

www.get-digging.co.uk

PUP!

[Robin Redbreast]

as much as i like the whole organic idea i live in west yorks and we are surrounded by fields of weeds so we went down the glyphosate route and it is doing well although no doubt repeated spraying of this expensive weed killer will be neede so if ya know anyone on the local council who deals with gardening like i do then perhaps they could throw some your way in exchange for some veg or something else maybe!

[fatbelly]

I know Glyphosate is tempting but digging the beggars out is guaranteed to work.

Much much harder I know.

[Robin Redbreast]

we have dug them out as well and still had problems so it is down to personal preferance i think?!

[Ian_P]

I think everyone has been here at some point. Personally I used glysophate at the very beginning just to knock the weeds down to give me a chance, but never never rotovate if you have perennial weeds like dock, bindweed or couch grass. you will chop up the roots and spread them all over the places.

The best thing I have found to work is a heavy sheet of black polythene. I dig over the ground quickly with a spade and cover it up with the polythene which MUST be lightproof. Then when the spring comes around I can uncover the space, whatever weeds are there are very weak if anythng at all, then I fork it over and away I go.

Polythene is much better than the weed suppressant fabric you can buy because it doesn't let rain through either. This means even less support for the weeds and the ground is dry underneath so you can get on to it in the spring as soon as there is a good digging day, you don't have to wait for the ground to dry out.

If you do this make sure you weight the sheet down well or it will be in the neighbouring county very quickly.

Have fun and welcome to allotmenting!

[scouser]

but never never rotovate if you have perennial weeds like dock, bindweed or couch grass. you will chop up the roots and spread them all over the places.

!

well said Ian.
When I had me first plot I put glophostate on the plot and rotavated a couple of weeks later thinking , I have cracked it. I only had a touch of mairstale before,  I rotaveted it. But I ended with a plot full it, it looked like a minuture pine forest

[BarnBrian]

I agree with Orfy, don't use weed killer. I've got a Sheen x300 flame thrower, not a cheap item but my grandfather had one for about 40 years.
Give the weeds a blast and the initial thermal shock makes them wilt and die, also kills any seed. Give them another blast about a week later and repeat every now and then. If you heavily mulch, about six inches deep, after that with alfalfa hay or something similar that doesn't have seeds, weeds are really minimised. Regularly add more mulch.

Brian

[richyrich7]

Sorry Andy deleted your double post but some how managed to delete both your posts  :oops:  :oops:

I've managed to rescue it but only as a quote

   

I think i get the message! WEED KILLER + ROTAVATOR IS TROUBLE! I knew there would be alot of hard graft in volved and i'm always prepared to get amongst it. I was just looking at getting ahead of the game and getting stuck in! Think i will just concentrate on one section (by hand) and get that tip top for overwintering, then progressively get the others ready for spring. Thanks guys! My next topic will be what to plant over the winter months!!???!?!?!?!

Andy Mc
____________

I'm going to totally disagree with the weedkiller + rotovator is trouble statement. You can create problems but persistence will pay off. It's totally possible to clear a plot with a rotovator on its own but you mustrotovate again and again every few weeks untill you get no regrowth at all.
IMHO you can clear a plot with weedkiller after all farmers do, you just have to have a proper regime in place.

[SG6]

No allotment but when I moved to this house the garden was overgrown. So faced with much the same. I ended up using a combination of things mentioned.

I sprayed with glyphosphate twice at 2-3 week intervals. That got the main weeds and the ones that then came up after. The time also allowed the glyphosate to get down the roots.

I then burnt off the dead stuff, and anything else.

Then it got dug over.

Hopefully your ground will be a little easier to get a fork into then was my ground.