can organic crops tolerate more weeds?

read here: (nice looking pics of corn too)

http://www.newfarm.org/depts/NFfield_trials/0705/weeds.shtml

tamarafaye

should i change the subject line to get your attention? basicaly, these are studies which show that organically grown crops, side by side with typically grown ones, actually grow faster & tolerate weeds better... go on, take a look!

Hey, that's great news Tamara, considering the amount of weeds I've got in my veg. plot. (Organic except for using slug bait when desperate). BTW, I worry about the slug bait affecting wildlife, but our garden is full of hedgehogs and birds, and our 2 cats have never been affected. There also seem to be plenty of toads. Shouldn't really have a slug problem with all these allies, but slugs and snails are prolific here. (Damp, mild climate).
Maggi

That is a very interesting article Tamara. I won't feel so bad about the weeds now. I do try to pull them out before they seed though to cut down the job for next year. What do they say - one year's seeds, seven years' weeds!

Pat

Pat, that's a good phrase to remember! Glad you all liked the article...

Maggi, have you ever tried the beer for slugs? As many as you must have, couldn't hurt to wipe out a large part of them.

tf

Yes ,I have tried the beer traps Tamara, and eggshells, and ash.... The problem is that these are very localised, partial solutions, and with over 1,000 square metres of garden, their impact is minimal. I only put down slug bait when I'm in danger of losing a whole crop of something, as opposed to the usual half. I don't mind sharing, but when they scoff the lot, I get desperate!
Maggi xxxx

i too have to share, which reminds me, i've got to tend to the pot of rhubarb leaves on the stove. making a poison spray for the grasshoppers. not gonna share my fall seddlings!
tf

That article made plenty of sense to me. I don't water my vegetable gardens, and almost never suffer from that. The organic matter allows the stuff I want and stuff I don't need to co-exist happily. Some years are better than others, but overall, I'm always happy. Thanks, TamaraFaye, for posting such an interesting article.

Another slug deterrent is to put hair clippings round tender plants, the fur from the dog's brush works too. This is another very localised use, but usually keeps them off the delphiniums. I suppose you could get a good supply if you asked a local hairdresser.

I must admit that I use slug pellets occasionally when the slugs are getting more than their fair share of the seedlings, but I try to use them under a covered area. I usually put an enviromesh net over the seedbed to keep the cats off while the seedlings get going.

I think night time slug hunts are the most effective and don't cost anything.

Have you tried the nematodes - one is sold as Nemaslug, which you water on in the summer and they kill the slugs for a few months. It is quite costly though if you want to treat a large vegetable plot. I tried it a couple of years ago on half my potatoes, and it was quite strange that the ones which had been treated with the Nemaslug still had a little slug damage, but the potatoes weighed one third more, being much larger than the untreated ones (which didn't have much slug damage either). The only difference in treatment was the one can of water when I applied the Nemaslug. I have noticed that that area of garden had much fewer slugs the following year without any treatment, so it was worth using.

Another quite good way of catching them is with a pile of comfrey (any weeds would probably work), but comfrey really seems to attract them. Just cut it and place it near an area you want to clear them from and they will crawl into it ready to be disposed of.

I sometimes put a flat piece of wood down next to a row of seedlings and the slugs will all be hiding underneath it in the morning.

Quite a quick way to kill them if you find stamping on them too messy is to put them in a bucket of water with a good squirt of washing up liquid in it. They drown straight away and don't try to climb out of the bucket while you are still doing your hunt.

I used to take them to the end of our street and throw them over a wall, but I think they have a homing instinct. Also it is embarrassing to be seen wearing rubber gloves and carrying a bucket of slugs when all the men are on their way home from the pub after closing time.

Pat

Horseshoe once posted that the sweet gum balls from that tree work well as a slug deterrent. Having stepped on a few this past year, I can see why.