On Oct 21, 7:48 pm, "Loosecanon" wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message

...





"Trish Brown" wrote in message
.. .
Has anyone got any wisdom to share in the ongoing battle against onion
weed? I've got a patch of the $@_)(%@&^$%^ stuff down the side of the
house and I just can't seem to get rid of it. All suggestions gratefully
accepted! ;-D

--

Glyphosate hasn't worked for me. I know two methods that do.

Lots of patience method: dig each little clump up with all the bulblets
than you can get, repeat several times over a period of a year.

No patience method: dig out all the soil to a depth of about 25cm get rid
of it and replace it.

Or then there is paving over.

David

It'll go through paving.

Now I have a question which plant are people calling onion weed?


MY Onion Weed looks a bit like shallots above the ground, a small
clump of single long leaves of light green colour. But under the
ground it has small blubs often a lot of them. It has been a while
since I dug mine up, but I recall that there can be maybe 12 or more
bulbs clustered under the ground. I think there may be different sub-
species of Onion Weed because my Onion Weed is much less green and
thinner than some I have seen in other people's gardens.

I have a suggestion about removing them which is not perfect but which
at least reduces the labour. You need to get an off-sider. I have in
the past been able to get the 22 year old daughter or the 16 year old
son to help. I dig a clump of onion weed out making sure to dig right
under them and get all the bulbs. The more dirt the better. Then
drop the dirt into a sieve held by the assistant. They shake it around
and you then grab all the bulbs and drop them into a black plastic
bag. To do this it is best to wait till the bulbs are a bit bigger
than the sieve holes. (My seive is an old plastic bread delivery tray
which I discovered lying in the street). With my small back yard,
myself and one child can get rid of all the Onion Weed in less than 1
hour. I then store the bulbs in a black plastic bag in a dark place
for 6 months and then I drop it in the rubbish bin. (Clear plastic
bags which let the light in are no good. They can generate roots
which will eat through the plastic bag and survive quite well thank
you.)

If I do this every 6 months or so, they definitely do reduce. You may
never get rid of them all, but you are left with hardly any. Maybe
after digging them out you could then really mulch it strongly, plus
put some of that Glyphosate stuff which I haven't used. Use multiple
defensive strategies.

Someone I used to know who had a really extreme Onion Weed phobia used
to put his Onion Weed Blubs in the microwave oven for 5 minutes before
throwing them out.

But other than that I think that moving home might be a good idea.

Does anyone know if the Onion Weed has any natural enemies (except
gardeners)? Has anyone like Bill Mollison written anything about
living with Onion Weed? How do they spread? How do they reproduce?

Good luck.

Norm