[Classybird]

Hi, I'm new to this site so a big hello from me.  

I'm also an allotment newbie having been given mine in October so am hoping to get lots of useful advice from those of you who have been doing it a while.  

My plot apparently had someone use a rotavator on it a few years ago, then nobody has done anything to it since.  As you can imagine it was a complete mess and I worked hard strimming it, turning the soil over and pulling out whatever nasty roots I could see.  

It wasn't until spring started that I realised just how much of a bindweed problem I had.  It's literally everywhere!  So I am now concentrating on where I want my polytunnel to go and have been doing the painstaking task of going through each spade of soil and literally crumbling it with my fingers to remove any amount of the white root, no matter how short.  

Although I am getting all of this out, I can see that there are millions of very thin roots left over as thin as a strand of hair and I am wondering if they too will turn into the thicker white roots that I have been sieving?  I really don't know what to do for the best.

 Using a weed killer isn't really an option as I will be predominantly growing food.  

In terms of growing things in the future, I don't know if I should be growing through weed suppressant sheeting, in raised beds with the sheeting and soil on top or what?  

I would be keen on hearing any advice you may have on how to get rid of this and how best to grow plus any one who has started to control this problem who was initially at the same stage as myself.  

Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from you all.  

[Yorkie]

Welcome to the site  .  I've moved your post over to GYO as you're asking questions about that.

Hope you don't mind but I've also taken the liberty of breaking up your text into paragraphs to make it easier to read - and hopefully you'll get more responses 

[Gandan57]

I dont think you need worry about the very thin roots, but it`s highly unlikely you will eradicate bindweed without using weedkiller.

The roots go down very deep and you will never dig them all out. A better solution would be to let it grow to a few inches high then spray with glyphosate. Now is the ideal time of the year to do this and you will need to repeat spray a few times.

Glyphosate becomes inactive on contact with soil and there will be no residues to contaminate your subsequent crops.

[stompy]

My mum and dad had this problem when they set up their greenhouse/veg patch.

My dad dug out as much of the bindweed as possible then planted their veg.

As small patches of bindweed came up my mum went round with a pot of Glyphosate and a small 1/2inch paint brush and painted the individual bindweed plants leaves every time she saw one come up, she did this every 2 to 3 weeks and prety much eradicated it within 6 months.

They still get the odd plant comming up even now after 10 years but it is quickly dealt with the same way.
In doing this the ground wasn't being sprayed and there was no overspray so only the desired plant was affected.

Personally i have just sprayed my entire plot with Glyphosate as a one off at the beginning to sort everything out and can now hapily rotavate to a good consistency.

[bigben]

I have been trying to clear bindweed from a greenhouse base to be able to use the beds contained in the base. Last year I double dug one bed three times trying to remove all the roots. It looked like buried spaghetti and I am still getting lots of bindweed popping up from tiny bits I missed. I ran out of time trying to dig the other bits of the base and this year I am using roundup and hope to dig the rest out later in the year.

My point is you can do it without weedkiller but it is a huge amount of work. I did not want to use it but it does help. I dont use it on any of my other beds but do use it on the main path and non growing areas.

[JohnB47]

My mum and dad had this problem when they set up their greenhouse/veg patch.

My dad dug out as much of the bindweed as possible then planted their veg.

As small patches of bindweed came up my mum went round with a pot of Glyphosate and a small 1/2inch paint brush and painted the individual bindweed plants leaves every time she saw one come up, she did this every 2 to 3 weeks and prety much eradicated it within 6 months.

They still get the odd plant comming up even now after 10 years but it is quickly dealt with the same way.
In doing this the ground wasn't being sprayed and there was no overspray so only the desired plant was affected.

Personally i have just sprayed my entire plot with Glyphosate as a one off at the beginning to sort everything out and can now hapily rotavate to a good consistency.

My vote is for this method - touch weedkilling that is (I don't like the idea of spraying).

Dig out a much as you can but any that keeps coming back, just a little paint of weedkiller every now and then and let time do the work for you.

Just one point, for someone who's never used glyphosate - it takes about a week to 10 days to show any sign of working on bindweed, so be patient.

[TheSpartacat]

Hi,
Just to encourage you, I have a 10 pole plot that is completely and totally infested with bramble and bindweed. it's slow work but the parts of it that I have dug, have seen hardly ANY regrowth of either nasty.- and what has come back has been from tiny bits of root that i missed and very easily pulled out once they'd sprouted.
If you're keeping on top of the weeds anyway, you'll catch them before they start winding themselves around everything.

People keep saying that bind weed roots go down very deep. That is NOT my experience of bindweed at all! I don't know what kind of bindweed other people have, but all of the bindweed roots i am finding (and I feel i'm on intimate terms with bindweed these days! lol) they are in the top 8 inches of soil or so.... and I am digging considerably deeper to get the bramble out, so I would see them if they were lurking any deeper... so my advice is, to carry on what you're doing.

The teeny tiny white roots- they don't seem to regrow from my experience.
You can also grow through a membrane if you get impatient and want to get something in the ground where you haven't dug yet. Things like squash and pumpkin perhaps. Or trailiing cucumbers, even tomatoes?
I'm doing that this year, on a patch i am 'digging quickly' - (ie getting out the bulk of the roots but not doing through it with a fine tooth comb) Blocking out the light will help weaken it for when you dig it over properly.

I'm not a weedkiller advocate, though i understand why it would probably be the best option for some people who otherwise can't cope with the weeds and need to clear it initially- but its worth remembering that it's known to get into the ground water and play havoc with aquatic organisms, and also that certain weedkiller manufacturers can no longer state on their label that it is biodegradable and environment friendly, breaking down in the soil. They were dragged into court over false advertising, at least twice that i know of, and forced to take it off the label.... however the myth that it breaks down safely is still widely believed.

[Classybird]

Just managing to get used to and find my way round the forum! 

Anyway, just wanted to say a huge thank you for all your very encouraging replies.  It really has been great to hear your own experiences and know that I'm doing the right thing. 

Thank you once again to all of you. 

[mobilekat]

Good luck with your bindweed.
We have been fighting with it for years, and are gradually winning, I dig it up, pull it up, rootle out any bits I can, and also paint on weedkiller occasionally.

This year it is definitely weaker, but I think I have a few more years to go. And it does go deep, and appear miles away from where it was!
Also the brambles do gradually die with the same treatment.

It just takes time. The only real pain I have is that the smell makes me feel ill, so I can only spend short times attacking it.
And my poor OH comes out in a rash if the sap gets on his skin!- perhaps we have an extra nasty strain in Devon??

[sarajane]

I hate using weedkiller but with bindweed it sometimes is the only answer.  We had masses of it years ago and still get the odd plant.  This is zapped with glysophate as it emerges (sometimes it hides itself very well amongst other plants)

You can dig it out but you will never ever  get to the bottom of the root.  Some of it will snap off and regrow but the glyphosate will kill the root after a couple of applications.

Good Luck

[Dominic]

Glyphosate spray and then Glyphosate paint method.
The Theory that a single application of glyphosate will poison your soil for all time is even shakier scientificaly than the one that says glyphosate cures global warming.

99% of the worlds food isnt organic, we survived somehow.

If it makes you feel better, spend the time you arent wasting fighting bindweed putting in mini wildlife sanctuaries.

[JohnB47]

Good luck with your bindweed.
We have been fighting with it for years, and are gradually winning, I dig it up, pull it up, rootle out any bits I can, and also paint on weedkiller occasionally.

This year it is definitely weaker, but I think I have a few more years to go. And it does go deep, and appear miles away from where it was!
Also the brambles do gradually die with the same treatment.

It just takes time. The only real pain I have is that the smell makes me feel ill, so I can only spend short times attacking it.
And my poor OH comes out in a rash if the sap gets on his skin!- perhaps we have an extra nasty strain in Devon??

Just interested - what is the smell you refer to? I use a concentrated version of glyphosate that I dilute and put on with a pint brush.  I can't smell a thing.

What are you using? (I presume you don't mean the smell of bindweed, which I also can't smell). Perhaps there's something wrong with my hooter.

[Muddylou]

After reading someones post on here (thank you), I now have a set of rubber gloves that I use for killing Bindweed. I put the gloves on and then dip the fingers in Glyphosate, then gently rub the leaves. I much prefer this method over spraying as I have total control over where the weed killer goes. I also find it therapeutic...
          

[mobilekat]

Just interested - what is the smell you refer to? I use a concentrated version of glyphosate that I dilute and put on with a pint brush.  I can't smell a thing.

What are you using? (I presume you don't mean the smell of bindweed, which I also can't smell). Perhaps there's something wrong with my hooter.

Its the smell of the bindweed!- when you damage it I smell a faint sickly smell, and as the plants get older it gets stronger.

When the garden was 'wild' if I cleared a large area of bindweed it made me feel really horrid- dizzy and faint!!

I also cannot tolerate the smell of hyacinths, and lilies, they make me feel dizzy and nauseous! So on the rare occasion I get a bunch of flowers I tend to have to evict the lilies!

[Classybird]

After reading someones post on here (thank you), I now have a set of rubber gloves that I use for killing Bindweed. I put the gloves on and then dip the fingers in Glyphosate, then gently rub the leaves. I much prefer this method over spraying as I have total control over where the weed killer goes. I also find it therapeutic...
          

THANK YOU!  This sounds like a good tip!