The weed control fabric so far is cutting down quite a lot on time spent weeding.
Where plants are planted through crosses in the fabric we haven't had to do any weeding at all but where the seeds or onions sets were planted in long 'trenches' some light weeding has been necessary. The advantage is that the area between rows which is covered by the fabric doesn't need weeding and it is easy to tell where the row of seedlings is.
The carrots have been weeded twice since sowing. Once as they were just coming through and then again last week. The carrots are growing really well and the weed growth definitely seemed lighter even in the soil 'trenches'.
There are one or two gaps in the growth which seem to have been selected as slug dinner and so I have sown some more seed to try and fill the gaps. I only managed to accidentally uproot about four baby carrots. But at least it proves carrots are forming. We don't bother thinning the seedlings - haven't done for years now - as we have found that good sized carrots form anyway. They may not always be beautifully shaped and some end up cuddling their neighbour but we are growing to eat not to show and so don't mind.
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Crikey Sue, your carrots and parsnips are miiiiiles ahead of mine which are barely spouting through the earth.
ReplyDeleteOf course your fingers are dirty you're a gardener, no excuses required :)
Linda
At least now the finger is clean but the nails are shot to pieces. :)
DeleteGoodness your parsnips are huge, I thinned mine out this morning perhaps that will give them a boost.
ReplyDeleteOurs have grown realy well this year and germination has been good, Jo
DeleteI've got a very weedy plot at the moment, I think the weather we've had has been perfect for weed growth.
ReplyDeleteThe weed fabric is helping a lot, Jo. At least the weather was also good for our plants too but no doubt this change has given them a bit of a shock.
DeleteMy Parsnips (and my few Carrots) are at much the same stage as yours. No sign of any Carrot Root Fly or Parsnip Leaf Miners yet. I think there have been a lot fewer pests around this year. My Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts are still pristine - not a sign of any butterflies or caterpillars.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a few cabbage whites fluttering around, Mark but our brassicas are protected be some netting. Unfortunately we still have slugs and snails too.
DeleteI'm thinking about using weed fabric next season on my roots bed. Most of this years roots have been thinned where needed and generally speaking it's been a year of very few weeds except in the potato bed. I don't have to weed any Parsnips this year as only 1 germinated. Yours look excellent.
ReplyDeleteThe fabric is certainly making life easier Rooko and we can use the time saved doing other things.
DeleteYour carrots look great(dirty finger too) but I have to say... where are the weeds?? :D You should see my garden.. I have to search for my plants they are lost somewhere between couch grass and thistle :D
ReplyDeleteThat's the weed control fabric working, Leanan
DeleteI didn't realize that parsnip sap caused burns in the sun, I'll certainly be more careful now.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting about not thinning the carrots, I may just leave mine this year and see how they get on as I really hate pulling them up.xxxx
Hope it works for you, Snowbird but you will get some strange shapes
Deleteawesome post as always and useful to not much is happing my end at present root wise but I do have a few soft fruit coming I do a post tomorrow
ReplyDeleteHope you roots progress, Linda
DeleteI should used trenches too. I am so tired of weeding.
ReplyDeleteHope you have bountiful harvest of carrots and parsnips.
Was it last year or the year before the weeds affected your carrot harvest.
So I can understand why you will want to make sure the weeds won't go out of control again.
It was the year before last, Diana we used the weed control fabric last year with carrots too.
DeleteI am trying mine in troughs in the greenhouse as I had very poor germination rate in the soil due to amount of weeds etc. Although my carrots are doing well the parships have hardly taken. With only a few showing after a few months. Should I give up and try another seed packet?
ReplyDeleteIt is late to sow parsnips, Alan but I don't suppose you have anything to lose by giving it a go.
DeleteWe drag a shallow trench in our soil and fill it with compost and sow the seed in that making sure it doesn't dry out See this page on my website
I love these small and thin carrots and parsnips, they're perfect for a light summer vegetable soup :)
ReplyDeleteOr just to pop in your mouth, Dewberry
DeleteCertainly is keeping your weeding to a minimum...maybe a should think about something like this for the future.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is Tanya - once the blackcurrants have lost their leaves we are going to do the same under them too.
ReplyDelete