Arina said….
I heard of a BD approach, that sounded this way:
3 consecutive years of pumpkins will smother the bindweed. Well, here we also
have the ferocious squash bug that will destroy all the
pumpkins. But once we move in
our new house, that is choked by the bindweed from 3 sides, even some is growing
up the drain inside the house, I will try a lot of biomass and pumpkins.
Mike said:
In exasperaton, I ve
tried to figure what niche bindweed was filling. To me it seems,
that being deep-rooted, it is breaking the hard pan, bringing up nutrients, as
well
as keeping the ground from blowing as a result of clean farming or heavy
grazing.
So, by my thinking, if we stopped making hard pan, possibly deep ripped, return
tilth, (like green manure Austrian Winter Peas), and leave cover on the ground,
we
might help Mother Nature, the same way bindweed does.
Arina said:
I think this approach may also help with the thistle - to plant deep rooted
plants that will break the soil. The bindweed, though has a different kind of
root, not the tap, but more runner type. It seems to be intimidated by a good
stand of red clover - still grows, but more modest looking, and less brutal.
Mike’s new
thought:
Arina, But, then, red
clover might be pernicious. I wonder
if another viney crop, indigenous, Buffalo Gourd, would work, like pumpkins,
but it’s perennial, too.
Also, I’ve used bi-annual
stubble turnips, successfully, to break up hard pan. Cost is around $4 per
pound,
but the
tiny seeds cover a lot of area. Austrian Winter peas are also viney and
strangle bindweed.
A
smattering of kenaf or red top cane, (early sumac) or sterile hybrids, would
add height to a mix, and allow trellising, and further keep light off the
ground-hugging bindweed.
mike
a
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