possiable bindweed in the poly tunnel

[nemo]

i got bueatiful well rotted cow manure it was like compost pure black and crumbly but i have a strange looking weed popping up in the poly tunnel where i was very generous with the manure i am afraid it might be bindweed.i went to the yard where the manure was stacked up .it was up against an old stone wall and its was covered with bind weed,.
if it is bind weed what is the best was of removing it i cant dig up the soil because the early potatoes are planted into that raised bed
how can i get rid of it without using roundup of similar products
your advice will be greatly welcomed
regards
nemo

[peter]

Place small canes to allow the bindweed something to twine around as it grows. Once about a foot of growth is there use :
jam jar, 1/2" paintbrush and rubber gloves to paint the growth with appropriately diluted glyphosate (generic name for Roundup).

[oldherbaceous]

Morning Nemo, i think you need to find out if it is bindweed first.
Did you notice any bits of the white root in the manure when you were adding it to your raised beds. And also have you dug up a couple of these weeds and had a look at their roots, even from seed they soon start to produce their thickened white roots.

I'm not so sure it will bindweed, as these normally like quite a warm soil before they start into gowth.

If it is bindweed, i would just keep clearing any top growth by pulling by hand, and then when the potates are ready for harvesting, i would then tackle the problem.

If you dig a barrow of soil out at one end of the raised bed, then this will give you a little room to chuck the soil forward, then making it easier to find any roots. Carry on working through the bed like this picking out all pieces of root as you go, adding the barrow of soil to the other end of the bed when you have finished the digging.

[nemo]

there was a lot of white roots when the manure delivered but i used a push hoe to get all the roots out i went through the manure carefully but obviously i didn't get all of them .if i keep removing the seedlings will i eventually over time defeat them .i am just worried that they will be hard to remove them when they are growing up the stalks of the potatoes

[oldherbaceous]

Morning Nemo, i still think it will be best to clear what you can, not worrying too much if the odd one gets missed, then dig through the bed carefully when you have dug your potatoes.

[Johnboy]

Hi Nemo,
It will not be seedlings that you are dealing with but inadvertent root cuttings. Although it appears that you do not want to use Glyphosate it really is the only way to kill them off. Without Glyphosate the weeds will be with you for years. Even digging your potatoes will produce a further crop of root cuttings.
JB.

[oldherbaceous]

Well i disagree with the fact that it would take years to get rid of the bindweed, especially as it has only just been introduced to the bed.

If it was an old existing bed of bindweed in very hevy soil it might be a different matter.

I'm not saying digging it will be the easiest method, but it certainly is possible.

Nemo, have you actually dug one of these weeds up to confirm that it is bindweed?

[Johnboy]

Hi OH,
Then you will have to disagree because when you dig the Potatoes out of that bed you will automatically leave root particles smaller than you can see in the soil and as Sod's Law (or should I say Murphy's Law) will have it that they will all form new plants.
You can dig until the cows come home and you will still have fresh plants coming up the next year and the year after and the year after!
As it is if these are allowed to grow until you harvest the Potatoes the damage will be done. I appreciate that Nemo doesn't want to use Glyphosate but there are times when you have got to apply common sense.
JB.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Johnboy, you don't have to describe the facts of bindweed to me, all my allotments used to be covered in the wretched stuff.

Nemo how big are you raised beds by the way?

If anyone wants a no spray method of getting rid of a perrenial weed infested area, and you are in no real rush for the ground, just cover the whole area with thick black polythene for TWO growing seasons.
The first season you will probably get a right shock if you lift the polythene, you are likely to see the whole area covered in all sorts of roots trying to find light. My plot looked like someone had tipped barrow loads of spaghetti all over it, but after the second season there wasn't a trace of a single perrenial root.
I was still expecting to get a fair amount of regrowth but there was none.
Even the weed seeds were not as bad as i had imagined.

And one more thing, i'm not anti chemical by any means, but there is more than one way to tackle any job.

[nemo]

my raised beds in the poly tunnel are roughly 0.4 of a meter deep and are 1.2 meters wide by 12 meters long.when i was adding the manure i used my hands to remove the white tubular roots,i thought they might be the roots from nettles .my potatoes are in the soil.i cannot find roots ,but i think i will let one of the plants develop beyond the 2 leaf stage to see what the true leaves look like. I found the seedlings among our blackcurrants and rhubarb these are both outdoor.my neighbour thinks the seedlings are similar to the leaves of a weed that sticks to your clothing.sticky willy they call it hear i am not sure of the real name.hopefully its just a regular weed but i have never seen it in my plot before.if it is bind weed i am thinking of making home-made weed killer using salt and vinegar.
i will let you know what the outcome is, hopefully it a thing of nothing thanks for your help.i wont use monsantos chemicals in my plot even if it means years of weeding.i know the salt and vinegar mixture might not be much better than regular weed killer but we can consume salt and vinegar

[oldherbaceous]

Evening Nemo, the weed you describe as sticky willy is Cleavers. It's only an annual so if it is this, it's panic over.

I can't see it being bindweed now, myself, as the white roots will come up to the surface with the leaves breaking from these, if it was growing from root particles that is.

But from what you say, it does seem good news.

[Clive.]

I've been rummaging around looking for a "basket of bindweed" photo...I have found this one....but felt sure that I had a more recent clearer one...

Clive.

[nemo]

those roots look exactly the same that i removed when i was digging in the manure