Transcript Weed Management - cultivatingsuccess.org

Sustainable Weed
Management
Strategies
Sustainable Small Acreage
Farming and Ranching
Know your Weeds
ID your weeds in your field
 Be sure you want to get rid of it

“Weeds are plant we have not yet found a use
for.”
 They do have a role:
–Holding water
–Creating organic matter
–Providing cover
–Habitat for beneficial insects
Tools for Control
 Exclusion
–Don’t bring weed seeds onto the
farm
 Nutrients
brought onto the farm
–Raw manure will have seeds
 Mulches
–Don’t use hay
–Straw is better
Tools for Control
 Instead
of manure – use compost
 Turn
the pile often to get the temp
even throughout and kill seeds
 Be careful of source material
–Malva sp. resistant to heat
What can I compost?
Animal manures
Straw, hay
Vegetable matter
Yard debris
Wood shaving/chips
Newspaper
Fruit and vegetable wastes
Organic Production
Compost non-animal materials
Plant residues, etc
No specific composting
regulations
Organic Production
Compost with animal materials
• Initial Carbon to Nitrogen ratio 25:1 – 40:1
• In vessel or covered 131-170oF, 3 days,
All portion of pile meets this temperature.
• Turned windrow 131-170oF, minimum 15
days with 5 turns.
Don’t let weeds go to
seed!
Early cycle weed control
 Is it worth continued harvesting
from a field to justify continued
weed management?
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– Hand weeding is expensive
 $200-$700/Ac
Culitvating
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Expensive to control in row
Cultivate on both sides of row
Precision planter
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Get a uniform stand
Shallow planting
– Deeper the planting, the longer for germination
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Distance between row
– Shade out weeds
– Plant dense - set up a bed like system
Cover crop the year
before
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Use cover crop
for weed
suppression
Shallow tillage
– Brings smallest
amount weeds to
the top
Transplants
 Give
4+ week jump on weeds
–Plant at the right planting
density can give you weed free
plots
Irrigation
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Drip irrigation is more water
efficient
Also by directing water to the crop
it minimizes weed germination
and reduces need to cultivate
Timing of Cultivation

Cultivate as soon as you can
– Small weeds easier than big weeds to
remove
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Do not irrigate right after cultivation
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Depth of cultivation
– Depends on weed species
Solarizing the soil
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Cultivate soil
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Irrigate soil completely
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Put plastic over the soil
– Weed get cooked
 Soil
gets up to 120 degrees F
Solarizing the soil (cont.)
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Bacteria fungi die and release nutrients
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Cooler climates two layers of plastic
– Have PVC between layers – create dead air
space
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Needs to be on for at least 30 days
during the heat of the summer
Weed control with
herbivores
Rangeland or extensive
pasture land
Large populations
distributed (often
dropped by airplane)
Takes time…
Hylobius sp.
Equipment
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A large part of controlling weeds
is recruitment of the appropriate
technology
The following is a short survey
of the available equipment.
Hand
Tools
Hand Tools
Weed
Badger
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Three point hitch
mounted.
separate
hydraulically driven
rotary head
Weed control for
perennial plants
Flamer
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Flame engineering
kit
Perennial crop
model for weed
control in berms
Different models
available for beds
or rows.
Flamers
Steamers
Spring Tooth
Cultivator
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Specially suitable for
weeds with
underground
rhizomes
– Bring rhizomes to
surface and causes
them to desiccate
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Timing is critical
Bushhog
Rotary mower
 Cutting cover
crop
 Mowing weeds
before setting
seeds
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Basket
Weeder
Budghing Corp
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Newly planted
transplants
Weed seedling
control
Timing critical
Annual sowthistle: Sonchus oleraceus L.
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Description: Basal leaves are on stalks, upper leaves clasp the stem. Leaf shape, seeds,
and flowers have some resemblance to dandelion.
Cultural Control methods: Stale seedbeds, crop rotation, and any other treatment that
reduces the spread and production of seeds are helpful.
The method for a stale seedbed treatment: prepare the beds, water to encourage the
weed seeds to germinate, and then kill by shallow tillage or herbicide application. Then
plant the crop. Rotating to a cool season crop other than lettuce will help. Preplant
cultivations, a dry soil mulch thrown over the seed, and deep plowing (inverting the soil
to a depth of 16 inches will provide some control.