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Re: Bind weed on allotment....
- To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
- Subject: Re: Bind weed on allotment....
- From: Scott Pittman <pci@permaculture-inst.org>
- Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 10:13:34 -0600
- In-reply-to: <LYRIS-101940-86147-2000.10.19-13.48.16--pci#permaculture-inst.org@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
- Newsgroups: permaculture
At 06:45 PM 10/19/00 +0100, you wrote:
I'm emailing for
advice/opinions/thoughts....
This year for reasons I won't go into here my allotment became very
neglected to the point where i
hadn't visited it for months. today i went down there after work and saw
that it has become totally
overun with bindweed. i normally have a bit of a bindweed problem but am
able to keep it contained
to 'acceptable' levels- however this year it is totally covering all
fruit bushes and the soil as
well- a bit of exploratory digging reveals that it has also rooted all
over the place (my real
worry as the top growth is easy enough to remove, and dies back in winter
anyway)-
Bindweed is NOT Bermuda grass, and as my friend says, it at least
has flowers... obnoxious as it is.
According to "Weeds and Why They Grow" by Jay L. McCaman:
Bindweed means: possible excess of heavy metals present, compaction is
present. Roots go too deep for herbicides to work on it. Seed remains
viable in the soil for about 50 years. Humus may be present, but not
decaying properly, as an antagonistic decay system is present, and
fermentation is needed.
Root secretions from tall marigolds and dahlias may kill it.
Also he states that bindweed proliferates in soils with following mineral
contents (H - high, L - low, VL - very low)
Calcium : L, VL
P2O5: L, VL
K20: H, VH
Mg: H
Fe:
H
Bacteria : anaerobic, meaning lack of oxygen in the soil
Drainage: poor
You should look at your soil test carefully, as in my case for example
soil has very high Calcium, but is quite alkaline, so calcium is
chemically not available to plants, and thus is very low.
I heard biodynamic people suggesting 3 consecutive years of pumpkins of a
bindweed patch. (Possible allelopathic effect?)
Black plastic does not work very well, as the root system is so prolific
that plant will access water and light some place else. By any means if
one is to use plastic, it will take a minimum of 3 years to remove the
bindweed.
Every time you till or dig, every root sprouts and becomes a plant (old
people say)
On my favorite patch of bindweed I see that strawberry clover seem to
keep it away, so does high alfalfa. Useless to mention that soil
disturbance will only add to a headache, so choose your groundcover
carefully and live with it (and some bindweed) peacefully. I don't do any
annual ag in places where bindweed is present anymore, but plant
perennials and covercrops.
Good luck,
Arina