Weeds shade the soil surface – reducing evaporation and the sun's harmful effects. They can reduce wind speeds at the soil surface. In winter, they trap snow, adding to soil moisture. Weeds can be important agents of soil conservation.
By removing nutrients for their own growth and development processes, weeds are leaving crops with lower amounts of key nutrients necessary to maximize yields. Research has shown that up to 60 percent of yield is dependent on soil fertility, and weeds that rob nutrients from crops limit yield potential.
Hint: Weeds are those unwanted plants that grow along with the main crop in the crop fields. They are very strong and dominating competitors for main crops. They mainly compete for essential components required for the growth and development of the crops.
Every plant needs essential nutrients from the soil in addition to water and sunlight and if there are unwanted weeds, which have a short gestation period and can sprout up much quicker than the plants you want. This lack of resources can cause those plants to struggle and die.
Weeds are parasitic on the crops and hence will destroy the crop plant completely.
By pulling weeds when they're small, they're not only simpler to remove, but they also don't get a chance to bloom and go to seed, which significantly increases weed problems. Being conscientious in early weed removal also reduces the need to use chemical herbicides that are not healthy for the environment.
Weed Control
Be sure you pull up weeds by their roots, and don't just yank out the leaves. They can re-grow if even small pieces of their roots remain. Be sure you pull up weeds by their roots, and don't just yank out the leaves. They can re-grow if even small pieces of their roots remain.
Weeding is good exercise. It's a great form of meditation as you let all else fall away and focus on just one thing: pulling weeds. This garden task is also a reminder that everything is connected to everything else. And a catbird just might become your new best friend.
Avoid Weeds
The best way to stay ahead of garden weeds is to stop them when they're seeds. If you stop weed seeds from sprouting, they never grow and you won't have to pull them.
The best time to hand-pull weeds is after a good rain. In fact, there's a weeding technique called “pre-sprouting” where you purposefully wait until right after a good spring rain to weed the garden because they tend to miraculously pop up at this point.
Some lawn and garden weeds bring nutrients and water up from deep in the soil and down from the air, and subsequently make them available to microbes and plants. Some weeds break up hardpans and compaction and control erosion.
Weeds act like fertilizer. Many “weeds,” such as comfrey, wild mustard, and most clover, have deep roots that penetrate the subsoil, where they harvest valuable nutrients and trace minerals far beyond the reach of other garden plants. As the weeds gradually decompose, the nutrients are recycled back into the soil.
Critical time for removal of weeds – weeds removed early in life of crop allows the crop to become stronger. Removal of alternative hosts – alternative hosts of pests can be weeds at the edge of fields, removing these controls pests. However this can reduce wildlife.
Keeping pulled weeds on your property is a bad idea because they can still spread their seeds and regrow. It's easy enough to stop this from happening: Simply stuff the weeds into a garbage bag and discard them with your trash.
White Vinegar:
For it to work, you have to wait for the vinegar to sit in the weeds from your garden for a few days. The vinegar will kill the weed's roots.
The most effective homemade option is a mixture of white vinegar, salt, and liquid dish soap. Each of these ingredients has special properties that combine to kill weeds. Both the salt and the vinegar contain acetic acid, which serves to dry out and kill the plants.
Rake weeds before mowing to pull seed stems upright. After mowing, destroy or dispose of seeds – don't add to your compost pile. Be careful not to rake if seeds are dropping, or you risk spreading seeds. As soon as perennial weeds sprout, it's time to take action.
Weeds compete with the crop plant for light, nutrients, water, space and other growth requirements and reduce the crop yield.
The first reason to hate weeds is that they take up space and discourage desirable plants. The defining characteristic of a weed is that it grows where it is not wanted. Most weeds are taller, rangier and seem to grow faster than more pleasing plants. Weeds make the whole garden less attractive and appear untended.
That's right, weeding is good exercise! According to the AARP activity calculator, a 175-pound person can burn around 180 calories per half hour through activities such as raking, planting, weeding and pruning.
Perennial weeds live for 3 or more years. Perennial weeds typically die back to ground level in fall but send up new growth in spring. Perennials reproduce by seeds and/or may spread vegetatively by stolons (above ground stems), rhizomes (below ground stems), or by spreading root systems.