[jimroden]

I have used one in the past and ended up with more weeds that we started. Though out the season one side that we left after rotorvating was terrable. So I tacked it ith a spade a couple of months ago and again left it but the weeds seem far less then when i cheated and used the rotorvator.

So do you use one or do you "do it properly" as the old boy's down there say.

Jim

[mushroom]

I have used one in the past and ended up with more weeds that we started. Though out the season one side that we left after rotorvating was terrable. So I tacked it ith a spade a couple of months ago and again left it but the weeds seem far less then when i cheated and used the rotorvator.

How many times did you rotovate?

[jimroden]

I have used one in the past and ended up with more weeds that we started. Though out the season one side that we left after rotorvating was terrable. So I tacked it ith a spade a couple of months ago and again left it but the weeds seem far less then when i cheated and used the rotorvator.

How many times did you rotovate?

Once then racked it over
have i made myself looka a ass again  :roll:  :roll:

[mushroom]

How many times did you rotovate?

Once then racked it over
have i made myself looka a ass again  :roll:  :roll:

well kind of, but don't be too hard on yourself  
You really need to do it several times. I rotovated twice on one segment, waited a week, did it again, waited another few days, then planted, and the weeds haven't come back. Actually thats not the whole story...

My plot was really really very weeded up with couch/twitch, 5 to 6 foot high in places. Used shears then brush cutter to get it down to 6 inches or so, waited for it to get some good fresh growth (took a week or two), then sprayed it with roundup, let that work for a week, cut what I could, then rotovated as per the first paragraph. I've had a few weeds come back, but they are weak scraggly things that are very easy to pull out of the tilled soil. If I'd sifted the tilled soil through a riddle, I'd have no weeds whatsoever.

There are other benefits to rotovating, like totalling an established ant nest (that took a couple of goes - no chemicals used!), and making a really well mixed tilth, of a quality you can't get with hand digging.

It's not immediately or obviously evident that a few goes are needed with the rotovator to de-weed.

[Contadino]

Yes, you need to use a rotovator regularly in order to beat weeds.  The norm here is to keep the land as bare earth, and weeds grow like crazy.  If they've already gone to seed, you'll need to turn the soil every time the seeds in the soil germinate - probably about 6 times to get it to a manageable state.  When I take on new land, it's invariably been left to go wild for too long, and I rotavate a minimum of 2 weeks after each significant rainfall, 6 times.  Once they're under control I turn the soil once every 2 months, except this time of year when the olive harvest is underway and you can't really walk or work under the trees.

[jimroden]

o well you live and learn
I have dug all m ine over now and just planted some winter cabbage so it;s ready for march. I have even limed them thanks to muntjack

Jim