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Andy
On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, lloyd kinder wrote:
> >Lloyd,
> >I have heard of using flame weeding as a pre-emergent herbicide, but I
> >guess it would work later, too, if you could somehow avoid crisping the
> >crop. $3 to $5/ac doesn't seem to expensive, if the control is fairly
> good.
> >
> >I remain skeptical about using a rye crop to choke out weeds then
> expect
> >soybeans to grow through. Why would the soybeans do any better than
> >the weeds?? I'd suggest trying it on a really small acreage the first
> time
> >around! Tried and true rotation may be the way, particularly with
> some
> >of the more stubborn weeds like Johnson grass.
> >
> >I'm sure there are a lot of low-tech methods out there just waiting to
> be
> >discovered by the small farmers who are willing to do a little
> tinkering and
> >experimenting on their own.
> >
> >The potato farmers here battle "quack" or "couch" (pronounced kooch)
> >grass. This grass sends its rhizomes right through the potatoes,
> >rendering them unmarketable (I suggested they try selling them as
> >fiber-enhanced spuds, but no takers!! ). In my experience, the grasses
> >tend to be the most pernicious and stubborn weeds -- both in farm
> fields
> >and in home gardens.
> >
> >Good luck going chem-free,
> >BOB
> >
> Hi Bob. Joel Rissman has been using a flamer for a couple of years now I
> think. He's the president of Organic Crop Improvement Assoc. in
> Illinois. He knows others who use it too and he reported on its benefits
> in the IL-OCIA newsletter last winter. He said it doesn't hurt to burn
> soybeans a little and in fact flaming seems to increase yields by about
> 10%. Some plants are adapted to prairie fires, you know, and maybe
> soybeans are too. I don't know about corn. I don't know if soybeans can
> be flamed after they're more than a few inches high, but they can be in
> August, when they're nearly full grown. Marvin Manges said they kill
> broadleaf weeds at that stage. Joel's email address is
> pault@watermannet.com, if you'd like to get info from him. --- As for
> growing beans in wheat or rye, the reason I think it may work is that
> clover is normally planted in growing wheat. It grows slowly in the
> spring and when the wheat is harvested it grows faster. Since soybeans
> are legumes like clover, I figure they may do likewise. I hope to find
> out next summer. --- I guess you'd have to get the quack grass killed
> off before tato's will grow clean and maybe flaming would help, or maybe
> vinegar or citric acid. --- Here's to tinkering. Aloha. Lloyd
>
>
>
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