weeds starting to grow in the swede field

Weeds in the swede field – update 7

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It has been exactly 12 weeks since I sprayed the beds in the swede field for weeds using glyphosate.

Table of Contents

Weeds

This past week I have noticed small weeds starting to grow on the beds in some places across the field. I still have a while to go before it is time to sow my swedes so I may need to consider applying another spray of glyphosate to keep the weeds away until sowing time.

Redshank starting to grow.
Redshank starting to grow.

Moss

I have also noticed another issue starting which is slightly worse than the weeds and that is the start of the moss growing on the lower end of the field.

Moss is starting to grow in the lower part of the field.
Moss is starting to grow in the lower part of the field.

Last year when the field was being ploughed and cultivated there was a thick mat of moss on the lower end of the field under the grass. Glyphosate doesn’t kill moss and the dry weather made the moss tougher.

I had lightly tilled the field but this made it more difficult to bury the moss with the plough as it fluffed it up, and the extremely dry weather made the soil difficult to turn over fully in shallow places.

A close-up of the moss growing on the beds in the lower part of the field.
A close-up of the moss growing on the beds in the lower part of the field.

Solutions

The upper part of the field has no moss, it is only the lower part. My options are either to plough the field again or spray the field with iron sulphate.

There are concerns with both strategies – ploughing would be good to bury the moss and turn up fresh clean soil, but the beds are well-tilled which may make ploughing difficult.

The upper part of the field has less moss.
The upper part of the field has less moss.

Spraying the beds will kill the moss, but I’m not sure for how long this will last, the bigger concern is that iron sulphate is acidic and I’d prefer not to make my soil acidic as this could cause germination problems and/or clubroot for this crop of swedes.

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