Weeds are the scourge of any garden. Their variety and quantity are simply amazing. Every year gardening farmers conduct a "battle for the harvest" with them. Let's talk about one of the strongest opponents of the gardener from the family of the wither ones - a field bindweed.
What does the convolvulus look like?
Bindweed of the field is widespread in the vastness of our country. The native land of this plant is the Mediterranean, where it was used for decorative and medicinal purposes. From there he began to spread. Passing acclimatization, the convolvulus gradually turned into a weed. This plant has a well-developed root system, the main root of which can go to a depth of up to 3 meters. At the same time, at a depth of up to 40 centimeters, the mass of its lateral branches is located.
Its numerous, rather thin stems with sparse egg-shaped leaves reach up to 2 meters in length and are capable, by braiding the crop plants, to ruin it. Throughout the summer the convolvulus of the field flowers with pinkish or white, funnel-shaped flowers. This weed (however, like most others) is very fertile. One plant can produce up to 600 seeds, germinating all summer and autumn. In addition, the seeds protect the ability to shoot for three years.
This plant reproduces quite well with the help of the root system. In moist soil, a piece of a root a little more than 2 cm long can survive and give shoots.
In addition to the damage caused directly by the plant itself, bindweed serves as an "incubator" for eggs of a variety of pests, which, undoubtedly, will not benefit your garden.
All this makes this weed a very difficult rival.
How to pull the bindweed from the garden?
How to deal with a bindwort? It is this question that often bothers most gardeners. After all, if you do not take timely measures, it will simply fill the garden, and you will not see a good harvest on it. There are not so many ways to combat this invader, and they are old as the world.
Mechanical method
Timely weeding is very effective in this case. Do not let the bindweed grow and ripen to its seeds. Weed out the weed at the first appearance.
Deep soil digging is pernicious for convolvulus. After it the chances of survival of this weed are sharply reduced. During digging, you must carefully choose all the roots of the pest. In doing so, digging is best done with pitchforks, since, cut into small pieces with a shovel, the roots can easily take root and shoot.
Film or roofing material
A good effect can be achieved with the help of a dark covering material. He will limit access to cornflower sunlight and will not allow sprouting, thereby ruining the weed. In this case, in small holes made in the film, plant crops can be planted.
Perennial herbs
On a site that is not used for planting vegetables (in the garden, in a flower garden), weed sowing perennial grasses, such as bluegrass, fescue, will help to cope with the weed. As early as the second year, the bindweed is not strong enough to grow through the turf.
Will help salt
In 10 liters of water, dissolve 1.2 kg of table salt. With this solution, spray the places of the most widespread spreading of bindweed.
Chemical method
No doubt, treating the site with herbicides will bear fruit. But, firstly, the treatment will have to be carried out 2-3 years in a row due to the well-developed root system of bindweed. And, secondly, it will not improve such processing and ecological purity of vegetables grown by you.
The struggle against the bindweed in the garden is not a simple and costly effort. But how much joy you will get by harvesting an excellent crop on a site free of this weed. Having got rid of it once, you just need to carefully monitor your site and at the root to prevent all attempts to bind it to him.