Weeds and their affect

[seedcorn]

Think weeds don't rob yields?

4" tall weeds tie up 30# of nitrogen. Let them grow to 8" tall, tie up 100# of nitrogen. These are per acre losses since a 8" tall weed wouldn't weigh 100#'s. While the nitrogen isn't lost, it will be tied up longer as soil microbes will then use the nitrogen to break down the fiber of the weeds after they are killed. So for a short period of time, you could be in a nitrogen deprivation environment.

2" tall weeds rob more corn yield than losing 60# of nitrogen per acre.

I'm going to have to get after the weeds a little quicker than I have been.

 

[April Manier]

Getting after the weeds quicker also allows them to be easily removed.

We got the greenhouse running again this year and I am really looking forward to being able to transplant starts. It will make initial weeding easier not having to distinguish between seedlings and weeds!

 

[digitS']

In life, timing is everything . . . somebody said that .

It is so easy to drag a rake across weed seedlings that are 1/2" tall -- and, uproot the whole lot of them!

Steve

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. ~ Albert Einstein.

 

[journey11]

Wow, that is more than I would have expected for a such a small weed. Then there's all the hiding places weeds afford for bad buggies... I'm on a mission to do a better job mulching and hoeing this year. If I don't mulch when I set my transplants, I'll be lucky if I get around to mulching it at all...everything gets busy all at once.

 

[wifezilla]

Wow. Good thing I switched to no till gardening. I hardly had any weeds last year. When it tilled, I was battling weeds all season.

 

[hoodat]

Although nitrogen is probably THE most limiting plant nutrient it is a "Here today, gone tomorrow" element since it so easily turns to gas and disapears into the air. The best way to keep it in the soil is to make sure there is plenty of organic matter in your soil. Soil organisms will take it out of the air so the plants can use it if they are well fed with organic matter.

 

[seedcorn]

Although nitrogen is probably THE most limiting plant nutrient it is a "Here today, gone tomorrow" element since it so easily turns to gas and disapears into the air. The best way to keep it in the soil is to make sure there is plenty of organic matter in your soil. Soil organisms will take it out of the air so the plants can use it if they are well fed with organic matter.

Sorry, not how it works. If so, we'd never have to apply nitrogen since there is more in the air then in the ground.


Air contains roughly 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide, trace amounts of other gases, and a variable amount (average around 1%) of water vapor

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_t...xygen_and_Carbon_Dioxide_in_Air#ixzz1F6weJMYC

 

[hoodat]

If your soil is healthy enough you have to apply very little nitrogen. Have you ever started a garden in fresh rich soil that has grown wild for many years? You can go an entire season without applying any fertilizer at all.

 

[Nagasaki4]

I hardly had any weeds last year. When it tilled, I was battling weeds all season.

 

[seedcorn]

What you will see long term is that you will battle different type of weeds. No-till tends to fight perennials while tilled ground-annuals. & some weeds-mares tail-all fight!