What can you do against weeds on a plot with herbal mixtures

Have you just sown your plot with a mixture for herbal leys and it's very dry, go water if you can!

This ensures that during drier periods that herbs and clovers grow better. By irrigating you give your herbal mixture the right amount of water for a good emergence. This gives weeds less chance to emerge.

After the herbal mixture has emerged, it is important to let the crop grow tall to take advantage of the high dry matter yield. The length we're talking about is mid-calf, or even a bit higher; just below the knee. This way you can overshadow weeds.

By making use of the fast growth in herbal mixtures, weeds do not get the chance to develop further and after the first. mowing they will dissapear.

Tips for herbal leys that suffer from weeds:
– Just sown, start watering; this accelerates the emergence of seedlings.
– Let the crop grow to length; to mid-calf, just below the knee.
– Mow as high as possible; by leaving the rest the regrowth starts immediately.
– Graze half of the crop; this keeps the root system intact and re-growth begins immediately.

What is the function of weeds

Weeds have several functions. For example, an important function of weeds in a freshly sown field is to protect the soil against drying out and dew retention for the young emerging seedlings. If a plot has just been sown and the soil is still very "bare" then the soil will 'wake up' weed seeds such as; Shepherd's purse, Melde and Common Chickweed.

A field with weeds, especially certain species in extended form, screams, as it were, “Cover me, protect me, let the crop grow tall”. It is nature speaking to you and trying to make this clear to you. As the climate becomes more extreme, this language of nature becomes clearer, or disappears altogether, with the soil being lost through loss of organic matter, by washout or run-off, sun-burning or blowing away.

Sunlight on an unprotected soil, let it dry out and burn the organic matter. The UV radiation in sunlight kills bacteria, in an unprotected soil, the soil life. To prevent this, let the soil grow weeds to protect the soil. The function of weeds is to retain dew and moisture. In order to provide the soil with water. Which in turn has a positive effect on young seedlings.

You can count on the first 5 - 10 cm of the soil being full of (weeds) seed, if there is a well-grown crop on it, the soil will not "wake up" weed seed, because the soil is protected.

You do not control these weeds, because they help your soil produce better. Their constant presence is a sign of wrong management techniques or wrong crop in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This layer of seeds in the soil is a kind of 'sleeping' guarantee of the soil that prevents the soil from drying out and the burning of organic matter.

There are 2 types of weeds

Weeds that come up at sowing:
– Shepherd's purse; Is a 1-year-old herb with leaves that like to lie down and thus protect the soil. Shepherd's purse is fairly easy to compete with due to the growing power of herbal leys. It can occur in a new crop as protection or in an existing crop, with a management that does not suit the crop, soil or climate
– Melde; Melde protects against drying out, catches a lot of dew and thus provides young seedlings with moisture. In addition to protecting young seedlings, it also protects the soil from drying out. Melde disappears after mowing or grazing.
– Common Chickweed; Common Chickweed is a very nutritious herb. Her appearance is a sign that there is an imbalance in the N household of the plot, with too much available nitrogen. Common Chickweed easily absorbs nitrogen, which prevents leaching. Common Chickweed can also fall into the next category, where it also serves to eliminate the imbalance in N household as well as to protect the soil.

- Dandelion; Dandelion is a very nutritious herb with high mineral contents. She cleanses the organs, such as; Liver and Gal. Dandelion has Officialis in its Latin name, which indicates that it was formerly used as a medicinal plant. It mainly occurs on drought-prone plots and indicates a management problem; often over-grazing or too many animals for too long. – couch grass; Couch grass is a perennial grass species, which mainly spreads through its roots. It is very rich in vitamins and minerals. Appears on plots that are too widely grazed. She indicates a grazing management problem, often 'understaffing'. – sorrel; Sorrel is "awakened" by the soil in a large proportion White clover and with soil problems. In grass-clover plots it is important not to completely eliminate these, but to leave some plants. The leaves contain tannic acid, which is increased by Clovers goes against.

As these above-mentioned "weeds" are very easily shadowed by Saladebuffetten. Let a Saladebuffet plot come to full length as described earlier in this blog and after grazing or mowing once, they have left or have taken such a modest place that they are not a nuisance!