Growing Swedes

[aleary5a]

Can anyone help. Sowed a 2acre field of Swedes. What is the best way to keep the weeds down. I have an old type scarifier and the ridger on the Massey 135 should I try these or should I be spraying

 

[FarmerBruce]

@Dicky.A

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

We ridge it and then sow it, leave till turnip plants are about 3" tall, scarifier through it and hoe the turnips, if still weedy, put stich grubbers through and that is it,

 

[aleary5a]

ok the last time i used the scarifier it was damaging as many plants as it was weeding is there a knack to using this?, should i have a stay on the lift arms using this, i dont have the grubbers, can the ridger be used for weeding

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

No the scarifier should swing free no bar, the wheels on scarifier should follow the stich, and guide the discs that cut it away, usually a handle for each drill, and move handles accordingly, if it was damaging plants, you had let the plants get to big and should of been done earlier to avoid this.
No ridger is no good for weed control in turnips,

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

Are the joys of the removal of Treflan from the chemical list from years gone by.
Yaltox for turnip flee is another, and not forgetting Narta for twich

 

[Devil's advocate]

Can anyone help. Sowed a 2acre field of Swedes. What is the best way to keep the weeds down. I have an old type scarifier and the ridger on the Massey 135 should I try these or should I be spraying

Butisan S or better still Springbok are the standard pre em herbicides for swedes.

Roundup on a stale seed bed or a newly sown crop infested beyond hope helps a lot.

Post em Laser for grass weeds & Dow Sheild for a limited number of weeds ie red shank, bindweed & thistle.

Hoeing is great fun & reduces weed seed reserves in the soil. If you are very diligent, one side hoe,hand hoeing & three scuffles & followed up by rogueing. Two acre should be easy.

 

[aleary5a]

Will roundup not kill everything including the Swedes. How soon after sowing can you safely spray it. It's a massive area to hand hoe. Might manage a small corner of it by hand. How many times can I run the scarifier over the drills

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

See if you can find yourself one of these, adjustable to get as many weeds out as possible, without taking turnips out,

This will reduce hoeing by hand to around 15% of the work, than not going through with this, and can do another pass with this in a 10 days or so again once weeds have chitted . And you will have it for others years to come
I have done roundup on spuds never turnips, will be just the same, but if turnips are through, then it's to late as you will know

 

[Devil's advocate]

Will roundup not kill everything including the Swedes. How soon after sowing can you safely spray it. It's a massive area to hand hoe. Might manage a small corner of it by hand. How many times can I run the scarifier over the drills

Oh my god yes, it will kill the swedes.

Stale seedbeds very common in swedes. Prepare seedbed a month before sowing, spray with roundup & drill 48 hours later follow with a pre em & at two leaf stage, Dow Sheild.

But if the crop is swamped, it is worthless. Spray off & redrill with a pre em

 

[2wheels]

Will roundup not kill everything including the Swedes. How soon after sowing can you safely spray it. It's a massive area to hand hoe. Might manage a small corner of it by hand. How many times can I run the scarifier over the drills

2acres a massive area? brother and i used to do 15-18 acres in a week. edit- if it is swamped with weeds devils advocate may have the solution but if you can see the swedes in the row get hoeing.

 

[aleary5a]

Yes 2 acres is massive. My back is sore just thinking about itI had a cultivator but it was the heavy duty one with the springs was told it was no use for weeding. I will try and get a good one for hoeing. ONly have a quad bike sprayer. Is it wise to use these chemicals on one. I have the pa certificate but only sprayed stuff for thistles and docks and roundup. Only a crofter so don't have any big machinery

 

[Devil's advocate]

Yes 2 acres is massive. My back is sore just thinking about itI had a cultivator but it was the heavy duty one with the springs was told it was no use for weeding. I will try and get a good one for hoeing. ONly have a quad bike sprayer. Is it wise to use these chemicals on one. I have the pa certificate but only sprayed stuff for thistles and docks and roundup. Only a crofter so don't have any big machinery

Wash out with all clear first the sligtest whiff of grassland herbicide is more lethal to swedes than roundup. Remove all filters & nozzles & wash them.

How about a knapsack with a shroud, roundup between the rows

 

[Devil's advocate]

It can be done with a knapsack.

Cooper pleglar the best, special nozzles,put blue dye in as well.

 

[aleary5a]

Ok think I have sourced a cultivator. Where can the spray chemicals be bought and the special nozzles

 

[aleary5a]

How safe is roundup between the rows. If the chemical touches the plant at all then it will kill it?

 

[Devil's advocate]

How safe is roundup between the rows. If the chemical touches the plant at all then it will kill it?

If you have an interrow cultivator fine.

I grow 15 acre of swedes/leaf veg & use a cooper peglar evolution sprayer between the rows (mine are under nets so cannot hoe). It has a special nozzle that only sprays under the shroud. I put blue sprayer marker fluid in the roundup mix so I can see what I have sprayed. Can get to within 1 inch of plants. Yes it is totally lethal if you get it wrong. Even with a shroud make sure there are no grassland herbicide residues are in the tank, vapour drift is a very serious problem. No vapour drift with roundup just drift of mist but with a decent nozzle shroud, no issue.