Weed control without chemicals - OrganicExchange.com.au Farming without weed problems is possible and can be done with no chemicals at all on many farms. It may seem that good weed control can only be achieved with a massive amount of weedicide, but many farmers and graziers achieve excellent weed control without herbicide.

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Make informed decisions and if necessary get advice The key is to change the balance such that your crops get more support, and the weeds get less. What it takes will vary from one farm to another and from one farmer to another and from one season to another. However there are some basic points that must be kept in mind: • a weed is a plant growing where someone doesn't want it • weeds do particularly well in certain environments.

Weeds, Control Without Poisons [Charles Walters] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Low biological activity is inherent in each weed problem.

Often these are farming or gardening situations • a crop plant and a weed cannot exist in the same space • anywhere there is a weed, your crop is not doing well • any weed has one distinct advantage over a crop or pasture plant: A weed has only one purpose. Through millions of years of evolution each weed species has been pared to the bone to do what it does best: produce more weeds • your purpose is to farm, so you are trying to achieve many things.

Plus you have a life outside farming. So you are at a disadvantage, because weeds are just part of what you have to deal with • we have bred weeds to do well in conditions that suit our crops • the first step in getting ahead of weeds is to • then you can take something from the weed and • give something to your desired plants • to shift the advantage in your favor.

Ps3 Service Mode Jig Files - Download Free Apps on this page. What this means Once you have answered the question: 'Why is there a space right here that this weed has managed to take over?' You can prevent those weeds coming back and stop other weeds from taking over similar spots. 'Crop' means more than plant crops: 'Crop' on this website refers to anything you grow or manage that has some benefit that can be harvested in some way.

'Crop' includes pasture, animal crops (such as milk, wool and meat) plus what are more commonly called crops such as corn, citrus or carrots, barley, broccoli or bananas Any ground that is not presently 100% covered with actively-growing plants is ripe for a weed coming from the farm (including from seeds right there) or from outside. This is where is a huge benefit. The fewer spaces your plants leave, the fewer spaces weeds can take up. However, if you cannot maintain full ground cover of actively-growing plants year-round, then the next best form of ground cover is This is where perennial plants really come to the fore. Because they maintain a high level of ground cover throughout the year, they leave few spaces for weeds to colonize.

In the absence of suitable perennials, or when you are resowing a field, choose a single variety or a mix of crop or pasture plants that covers the ground quickly. Plants that cover ground quickly snare space, light, moisture and nutrients as well as becoming stronger and more able to compete. Generally, weeds are more of a problem when your crop is having difficulty.

When there is plenty of sun, water, nutrients and no limiting or damaging factors, weeds are not as much of a problem as when your crop is not performing optimally. This is because weeds are better adapted than desirable plants (crops and pastures) are to almost any difficulty. Most crop and pasture plants are fussy and less capable in any but ideal conditions. Pioneer plants such as weeds are usually well adapted to hard soils and to soils low in moisture, nutrients or in any other way below ideal. If you let your soil deteriorate, you take the from your chosen plants and give it to the weeds. Perennials, annuals, biennials ANNUAL plants complete their life cycle in a year or less, starting from seed and producing another generation of seeds before dying.

BIENNIAL plants take more than one year but not always less than two years to complete their life cycle. The first year is often spent establishing and the second and later years are spent producing seeds. The plant generally dies after this. PERENNIAL plants continue to live from one year to the next, often producing seeds each year.

Weed control is particularly important with perennial weeds because as well as weed seeds, you will have weed plants that may continue to set seed for years. In theory, it is easier to eliminate annual and biennial weeds (than perennial ones) because they can be beaten by eliminating the seed phase. If you stop them seeding, there will be no weeds once the seed bank in the soil is exhausted. The existing plants will die after one or a few years and if they are not replaced, that weed problem ends. Plants have few opportunities to move. The best opportunity to move or spread is when they produce seeds and they have many mechanisms for getting seeds to move.

Some plants have ways to spread other than through seeds: • HORIZONTAL runners cover a lot of ground for kikuyu and couch grass • CLIMBERS move up into trees and can move across and down to the ground to start new plants: Ivy, honeysuckle, jasmine and others • Some plants grow to become huge clumps that droop to the ground and put down roots to get nutrients for the existing plant or to establish a new plant. One blackberry can take over a gully Because plants have limited opportunities to move, this is often the easiest point to protect yourself from weed spread. Using this The points where you can beat weeds are: • removing existing weeds • keeping weeds from arriving on your land • preventing weed seeds from germinating • preventing weed seedlings from establishing • preventing established weeds from seeding • capturing weed seeds that are about to spread If you can beat the weed at any one or ideally at every one of these stages, you will have few weeds and weed problems. Any weed infestation begins with at least a single seed or any other part of a plant that is capable of developing into a full plant. If you can beat it when it is a seed, a seedling or before it has a chance to flower, you will only have a brief problem with it.

If you allow it to set seed, it can turn into a major problem. Remember that what matters is the relationships between things rather than the things themselves. If you can work out where the relationships fall down, you will find it easier to resolve the problem than if you focus on any single thing. Taking this further This table shows some • Characteristics of the weed - what the weed has, does or is • What these characteristics may mean for you (this varies from farm to farm) and • Some approaches you could try that may assist you against the weed. Weed characteristic What these characteristics may mean Approach that may assist you against the weed Large numbers of seeds Poor seedling establishment Poor seedling survival Low germination rates Make conditions (particularly competition) tough at germination and soon after No bare ground around seeding and germination Seedheads break off with seeds attached An effective method of dispersal with built-in insurance: If one of the seeds on the seedhead germinates but does not survive, there are several others that may when conditions are more favorable.

Use windbreaks to confine seeds to specific areas Note: A windbreak need not be particularly tall, and it need not be permanent. It could just be a tall crop, such as corn (maize), to catch the seedheads and prevent them spreading Prickles on leaves or stems The weed would be attractive to stock otherwise Allow pasture to grow tall when the weed is starting to grow. The competition will beat some of the weeds. Others may survive by switching to upright growth and this usually means fewer prickles plus the weed will be softer and more palatable.

A hard graze at an appropriate stage may get rid of it Rosette at base Weed is trying to commandeer nutrient, light and water, most likely for next year when it will seed Vigorous crop or pasture may outcompete. Make sure there are no bare patches Grow a broad-leafed crop every few years Weed is tall compared to crop The weed gets the light and shades the crop Grow a taller crop, such as an older variety Weed grows from a crown or other underground store Base of plant is providing nutrient to kickstart the aerial part Exhaust reserves by slashing before any stem has returned the nutrient it took to grow it. For example, if you slash blackberries before they get to about 1 m high, there is a good chance you will exhaust them, although it will take a few slashings Remains after hard grazing Survives hard grazing Unattractive to stock May need to graze the field hard to make the weeds stand out and then remove weeds individually.

You may be able to make the weed more attractive by spraying it with molasses or by providing some high protein feed such as lupins so animals can digest it Weed is able to get from a germinating seed to producing seed quicker than the crop is Weed has quick lifecycle so it can reproduce even in a short season Consider slashing the crop as a green manure or using it for grazing, silage or hay making before the weed gets to seed. Then plant an out-of-season crop (a summer crop if the weed is in a winter crop and a winter crop if the weed is in a summer crop) and prepare the seedbed before any more of the weeds get to seed. Weed is very vigorous A tough competitor that needs an even tougher crop Pick a suitable crop that can grow vigorously, preferably beating the weed at its own game.

For example, a vigorous variety of oats will beat most weeds or at least give them a run for their money. You may be able to take the weed out by grazing or by cutting the oats for hay.

Many oat varieties are suitable for grazing and regrowing to regraze. So, if you let the oats regrow and conditions are right you'll have a second chance at beating the weed by grazing or by cutting the oats for hay. Then it might be time to sow a summer crop and have a third go at beating the weed. The weed looks and behaves in a similar way to your crop The weed possibly evolved in a cropping system similar to yours You will need to fine tune your management or find some particular weakness in the weed or strength in your crop. For example, if you grow wheat or a similar winter crop and you have a problem with wild oats, you may have to delay sowing until the wild oats germinate.

At this point, grazing, tillage or sowing the crop may kill a lot of wild oats. You could also choose a tall variety of wheat that can outgrow the oats. However, the best approach is probably to change crops and beat it with a suitable competitive crop that doesn't match the weed's patterns of growth. Weed has uses in other places Weed may be an escaper from another farming or gardening situation and thus has had a positive value there, rather than being considered a weed Take advantage of the uses it has in other farming or gardening situations by turning the weed into a benefit: • Capeweed (Arctotheca calendula) is a very productive pasture plant and many a farmer in Western Australia would be out of business without it. But it can give plenty of problems if you don't manage it well. • If you are willing to run goats, many thistles and woody weeds (blackberry, briar etc) make good grazing or browsing.

Some goat farmers are willing to agist their animals on your property. A suitable next step might be: Take one weed and apply some of the principles in the table above. Pick a weed that matches well with one or more of the characteristics in the left column and check whether the middle column fits that particular weed in that situation on your farm. If it does, then some of the approaches in the right-hand column might work for you. If you are looking at a printed version of this page and you would like to visit it on the internet and get a stack of other info that may assist you, the full web address is Related info: Summary Farming without weed problems is possible and can be done with no chemicals at all on many farms. It may seem it can only be achieved with a massive amount of chemicals, but many farmers and graziers achieve it. The key is to change the balance such that your crops get more support, and the weeds get less.

What it takes will vary from one farm to another and one farmer to another and one season to another. If • you can understand why a weed has a particular characteristic or behaves in a particular way • you have the chance to understand how that benefits the weed and therefore • how you may be able to get ahead of it by applying an appropriate tactic to counter that benefit or to give that benefit to your crop plant.

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FarmRef and Organic Exchange are registered trademarks and Info you can walk out & use is a trademark of Michael Burlace. This page was updated on December 27, 2007.

Editor’s note: This Care2 favorite was originally posted on May 24, 2016. You don’t have to resort to chemical herbicides in order to get rid of invasive weeds. Safer options exist that will work just as effectively. They may take a bit more persistence, but the benefits of organic control methods far outweigh the negative health effects of chemical pesticides. So what’s the big deal about Roundup?

It’s a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide, which means it kills most plants that it comes in contact with. Roundup is also the most widely used herbicide in the world. Glyphosate is the active herbicidal ingredient in Roundup. Many genetically modified food crops, such as corn and soybeans, have been scientifically designed to be resistant to glyphosate. Farmers can then spray Roundup on their fields and kill all the weeds, leaving only the food crop standing. This greatly simplifies weed control, but it also means the food crops are literally covered with Roundup.

And so is any food you eat that’s made from these crops, like corn chips, bread, and other packaged food. A study by the found that glyphosate residue in our food may enhance the damaging effects of other food-borne chemical residues and environmental toxins. This can lead to disruption of normal body functions and the development of diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, infertility and cancers. A also found that a “filler” ingredient used in Roundup, polyethoxylated tallowamine, was more deadly to human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells than the main herbicidal ingredient glyphosate. We’re just starting to understand the serious long-term health and environmental effects of Roundup and other popular herbicides. The less we use these chemicals, the better.

Try some of these effective organic weed-control methods instead. Mulching Covering the soil with an extra layer of organic matter can smother and inhibit weeds, as well as prevent new seeds from germinating. You can mulch with compost, bark, wood chips, newspaper, cardboard, grass clippings, straw, or most other organic matter. But make sure not to get hay, which can have a lot of unwanted seeds.

You can also put ground cloth, old shower curtains, or other thick material underneath a pathway made of wood chips or gravel to prevent weeds from growing through. Hand-Digging Manual removal with a shovel, hoe, or other tool is an effective spot-treatment for basically all weeds. Many weeds may come back and need to be dug again. But consistent hand-weeding will greatly reduce their populations. When young weeds are promptly dug out, they won’t be able to seed and reproduce.

And regularly digging up weeds with tap roots, such as dandelions or thistles, will weaken the root and eventually kill the plant. Competition Weeds can’t take hold if there’s no space for them. Try planting dense groundcovers and perennial plants in ornamental beds. The shade and heavy root systems of trees and shrubs can naturally prevent weeds from growing underneath. If you’re battling weeds in your lawn, make sure you use grass varieties appropriate for shade, drought, or other difficult areas where a regular lawn might not grow well, leaving openings for unwanted visitors. Regulate Food and Water The nutrients and irrigation you give your garden will encourage weeds as much as the plants you want to grow.

Only give your plants what they need. Well-established trees, shrubs and perennial plants can often do well without a lot of extra fertilizer and irrigation. Vegetables may need a bit more, but you can be selective. Heavy feeders can get extra compost, like squash and cucumbers.

However, you can feed crops like root vegetables much less. Solarize Solarizing involves covering an area of weeds with a heavy plastic sheet.

This works best in full sun where the heat will collect under the sheet and literally bake the weeds. Leave the sheet in place for 4 to 6 weeks. You’ll know it’s done when the weeds underneath are clearly brown and desiccated. Limit Tilling and Digging Turning over the soil in your vegetable patch or other beds will bring new weed seeds to the surface. Experiment with the, where you try to disturb the soil as little as possible.

For example, if you’re seeding vegetables, only dig down as far as you need to plant the seeds instead of deeply digging or tilling the entire bed. The no-till method has also been shown to improve soil structure and fertility, as well as increase beneficial soil organisms. Corn Gluten Meal is a powdery byproduct of the corn milling process that’s been found to prevent weed seeds from germinating. It’s often applied to lawns, or can be used in other garden areas.

It’s non-toxic to animals and you can buy certified organic corn gluten meal. If you can’t find it in your local garden center, corn gluten meal is available online. Vodka Try spraying a mix of 1 ounce vodka, 2 cups of water, and a couple drops of dish soap on weeds with.

This will often dry them out and kill them. It doesn’t work well in shady areas. Also be careful not to overspray onto any of your regular plants, the vodka will dry out whatever plants it hits.

Vinegar and Salt Regular 5 percent household vinegar can be used on its own against weeds. It’s even better mixed with. Mix 1 gallon of white vinegar with 1 cup of table salt and 1 tablespoon of liquid dish detergent. Put the mixture into a plastic spray bottle and spray directly on targeted weeds.

Soap The oil in soap naturally breaks down the surface of waxy or hairy weed leaves. Adding a few drops of liquid dish detergent to vinegar or vodka sprays will help it stay on the leaves and have the greatest impact. America Edition Ethics In Reader Second Source Medical on this page. Boiling Water Simply boil a kettle of water and pour it over any undesirable weeds to burn them. This works especially well for weeds growing in cracks of pavement or cement. The water will cool as it runs off to the sides of your pavement and won’t hurt any plants along the border.

Flame Weeding This involves passing a flame over a weed briefly in order to fatally heat the plant tissues. A is typically a wand connected to a propane tank. These may be carried at your local garden center or hardware store. Flaming will only kill the weed parts above the ground, not the roots, so you may need to flame your weeds a few times before they’re gone. Clearly, this should not be done during any dry spells when there is a risk of fire. Always follow the safety precautions that come with your flame throwing device. Related Stories: • •.