Old Wives and Cultivators
 

A neighbour and myself are about to acquire an allotment, which is good news
as our small gardens have been hijacked for flowers and shrubs by the
ladies.
The allotment is somewhat overgrown and neglected and we are thinking of
hiring a cultivator for the weekend. However, a couple of the
'allotmentees', suggest that this will only bring weed seeds to the surface,
but they cannot provide any supporting evidence to back this theory up.
Has any one else heard this story, or is it merely an old wives' tale,
planted by fork manufacturers + chiropractors
Regards ..............Paul

Old Wives and Cultivators
 

Hi Paul, weed seeds dont dwell at a certain depth ready to spread,they are
at all levels (depending on how much cultivation and how deep) also their is
windblown too.

After rotovating weed seed will always germinate,just hoe them of or use a
thick layer of mulch.

Regards G

"Paul England" wrote in message
...
A neighbour and myself are about to acquire an allotment, which is good
news
as our small gardens have been hijacked for flowers and shrubs by the
ladies.
The allotment is somewhat overgrown and neglected and we are thinking of
hiring a cultivator for the weekend. However, a couple of the
'allotmentees', suggest that this will only bring weed seeds to the
surface,
but they cannot provide any supporting evidence to back this theory up.
Has any one else heard this story, or is it merely an old wives' tale,
planted by fork manufacturers + chiropractors
Regards ..............Paul

Old Wives and Cultivators
 

In article ,
says...

Hi Paul, weed seeds dont dwell at a certain depth ready to spread,they are
at all levels (depending on how much cultivation and how deep) also their is
windblown too.

After rotovating weed seed will always germinate,just hoe them of or use a
thick layer of mulch.

Regards G

"Paul England" wrote in message
...
A neighbour and myself are about to acquire an allotment, which is good
news
as our small gardens have been hijacked for flowers and shrubs by the
ladies.
The allotment is somewhat overgrown and neglected and we are thinking of
hiring a cultivator for the weekend. However, a couple of the
'allotmentees', suggest that this will only bring weed seeds to the
surface,
but they cannot provide any supporting evidence to back this theory up.
Has any one else heard this story, or is it merely an old wives' tale,
planted by fork manufacturers + chiropractors
Regards ..............Paul






Exposure of soil will bring rusult in the germination of dormant seeds
regardless of whether it was rotovated or dug.
--
Jonathan Ward
Remove the 'X' when replying

Old Wives and Cultivators
 

"Paul wrote in message
A neighbour and myself are about to acquire an
The allotment is somewhat overgrown and neglected and we are thinking of
hiring a cultivator for the weekend. ((snip))

We started ours with a cultivator and the ground was rock hard clay,
previously used as a car park (unknown to us!).
You will need to clear off all the weeds on top of the soil or at least
strim them down to ground level. Then go over the ground time and again
digging deeper each time. A lot of veg don't need much depth of soil, onions
for example, and cabbages etc like firm soil so don't worry too much. Then
as you crop each thing dig that small patch by hand so that after one season
your plot is all hand dug to one spit.
Then when you realise the crop is no different, don't bother again, just use
a rotovator. :-)

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existance.

Old Wives and Cultivators
 

On Thu, 21 Nov 2002 15:54:51 +0000 (UTC), (Jonathan
Ward) wrote:

After rotovating weed seed will always germinate,just hoe them of or use a
thick layer of mulch.

After rotivating any of the deeper rooted perennials like couch and
bindweed have had a gift horse with regards dispersal. Every single
quarter inch of root scattered everywhere another unwelcome plant!

I would dig rather than rotivate if are any of these weeds in
evidence.

Respect

Hussein

Old Wives and Cultivators
 

There are several problems with using a rotavator, and some of these have been
touched on. Basically they are as follows:

1) The rotavator will probably not 'dig' deep enough to be effective and give
you the desired results.

2) The rotavator will till the soil without giving you the opportunity to break
the soil up as with a fork and remove weed roots as you go, hence the concern
with weeds. Weed seeds are immaterial when it comes to choosing to till the
soil with a rotavator or fork as both systems turn the soil and weed seeds over
and allow some weed seeds to germinate and grow.

3) The rotavator may turn the top soil over, but may compact the soil that the
blades ride over. This can lead to 'panning' which will restrict the ability
of water to drain through the soil, and will also limit the ability of plant
roots to travel down through the soil. Very sandy soils will be least
effected, while clay soils will be worst effected.

If it was up to me II'd spend the money on something else, though whether you
want to or not is up to you. Personally I'd go for a new fork, or something
else that I needed, or maybe a couple of folding seats to sit on whenever I
needed a rest, or maybe a new flask for my tea/coffee, or some fancy biscuits
to have when I took a rest.

The list could go ever on, but I won't indulge myself. It does however prompt
me to think of some things to ask for for Christmas. I now have some ideas of
things to ask for when relatives ask me what I want.

All the best with the new plot.

Dave.

Old Wives and Cultivators
 

In article ,
(ned) wrote:

In this case 'supporting evidence' is 'experience' -
which isn't always well documented, and the theory is well proven
practice.

Or is it a myth propagated when you stir up gardeners by suggesting
there's an easier way to do things?

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

Old Wives and Cultivators
 

"DaveDay34" wrote in message
...

snip
Personally I'd go for a new fork, or something
else that I needed, or maybe a couple of folding seats to sit on whenever
I
needed a rest, or maybe a new flask for my tea/coffee, or some fancy
biscuits
snip
Many thanks to G, Jonathan, Hussein, Ned, Steve, Stuart, Dave, Sue and Bob,
for your obs and advice.
I have shown your posts to my neighbour and have ellected to go for hand
digging.
As luck would have it, my neighbour is one of those tough itinerant farm
workers and I am going to suggest that he buys a new fork and I will buy a
folding seat, as mentioned by Dave above. Plus I've always wanted a
stainless steel vacuum flask. I suspect, however, he may just beat the crap
out of me, for me cheek. Still, these are the stuff of dreams..........Best
regards Paul.

Old Wives and Cultivators
 

Plus I've always wanted a stainless steel vacuum flask. I suspect, however, he
may just beat the crap out of me, for me cheek. Still, these are the stuff of
dreams..........Best regards Paul.

Maybe you could offer to get the flask and share it? Maybe then he wouldn't
knock the you-know-what out of you.

Dave.

Old Wives and Cultivators
 

On Sun, 24 Nov 2002 15:31 +0000 (GMT), (Steve
Harris) wrote:

Or is it a myth propagated when you stir up gardeners by suggesting
there's an easier way to do things?

From the original post you may well infer that they were stirred up
just from the fact they suggested.

If they didn't already know for sure through past experience that
rotivating would have unwelcome consequences, I am sure they would be
more than a little delighted if someone was to do the experiment for
them. They may have said "brings weed seeds to the surface" but in
their terminology (possibly not very academic) this term may have
included a rampant infestation of couch and or bindweed and or other
rather too successful perennial plants which we would prefer not to be
growing in our garden. "Go on - back to out the hedgerows you greedy
sods!"

Respect


Hussein