Plot prep

Plot prep

  • Leave green disk in and plant

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what is the best way to prep plots. some places i have sprayed roundup seems to always have more weeds come back than the previous year so thinking of just disking in green and planting.
 
I think it depends on what your expectations for the plots are.

If putting in a perennial plot like clover, chicory, alfalfa, etc. then the more weeds and grasses that you take care of early on the better. You will be sorry if you don't kill the competition for a plot like this. Cool season grasses will be the main problem. You can't hurt them by mowing.

But, for a strictly one-shot fall annual plot like grains and/or brassicas, you can get by with less prep. You should have a fall bounty of the annuals you plant before the cool season grasses can recover.

In a clover plot you can generally control most broadleaf weeds by mowing at the right times. The reason you see weeds the next year is mostly because of the seed in the ground that germinate after you kill the plants with gly. It can take a few years of work to exhaust the seed bank at any given spot.
 
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My organic farmer friends will testify that, using roundup will always have less weeds come back than with no spray. They give a little sigh and dreamily speak of the good old days when they come spray their crops, now they mostly use burning, cultivation, and allopathic rye to control weeds. (For higher profits of course) Roll it and no-till small grain into it, and you will get away with not spraying.
 
If planting brassicas and soil conditions are just right where I can turn soil with a single pass of the disc, then I'll forgoe spraying. However, you need to have some cleth standing by if grasses explode. They can limit brassica growth particularly with ample nitrogen amendments. I seem to have worse weed problems if the soil requires multiple passes of the disc.
 
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