HELP Bindweed.... how can I win the battle?

[bigdumbird]

Hello everybody!

Iam currently engaged in a long and bloody battle with BINDWEED that is slowly taking over half my plot.
problem is Iam trying to grow my veg as organicaly as possible so using chemicals would be my last resort.

please can anybody give me any advice?

many thanks

[bigdumbird]

[Roy Bham UK]

;D Get a big dumb bloke to dig it up for you ;D Sorry couldn't resist and I don't know the answer to your question other than sharing this link with you, good luck. ;)

I have it too BTW :'(

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0801/bindweed.asp

[amphibian]

Bindweed resents regular cultivation, or so it is claimed.

Rip it out where you see it, remove roots when you dig, and most importantly of all; learn to live with it.

[saddad]

Apparently the root secretions of Tagetes Minuta prevent it spreading into cleared areas but I prefer the dig it out method.... the first couple of times it will look like you are loosing but rip out any regrowth as soon as you see it to prevent it reknewing the root... it takes alot out of the root to resprout so eventually you will win!
::)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Just keep digging. Parts of my plot were like that when I took it on, with great masses of tangled roots, like brittle white ropes. It's almost all gone now.

[dingerbell]

Just like so many of you out there, I took over a very neglected plot that was choked with Bindweed and couch grass. After 2 years of constant digging I've almost got it under control but it still seems to raise its ugly head and try to choke the life out of my tender veggies. Curiously it seems to grow almost symbiotically with Couch Grass. Every clump of Couch appears to have its companion tangle of Bindweed roots. Might be just coincidental but it all gets dug up and burnt.  For the non organically minded, talk to a friendly farmer. They have chemicals that will kill it instantly if painted onto the leaves....Better get back to the lottie to see if any more has sprung up over night.... ;D...Dinger

[nippie]

This is a standing joke in our house, My OH can be standing in the kitchen when he will suddenly shout bindweed and disappear out the door ::) He can spot it a mile away  ;D
So when I saw this post I called to ask how to get rid of bindweed.
His reply? "Keep pulling the b****y stuff out"  ;D

[bellebouche]

A dogged persistence will triumph. It just takes time and an eagle eye.... every time you spot it.. dig it out.. go down and get as much curly-wurly white root as you can... you'll beat it in the end!

[Moggle]

Last year I covered a couple of bindweed-infested beds with black weed control fabric, cut holes through and planted beans and sweetcorn through them.

Seemed to help control the bindweed - I still had to pull lots of it out, but at least I was able to use the ground.

[busy_lizzie]

It is one of those weeds you just can't let up on.  We dig and dig and think we have licked it, but once you become complacent and let things go a bit (well it is so hot weeding), then it is back as strong as ever.  My advice is just keep at it and learn to live with a little bit of it if you want to stay organic.  ::) busy_lizzie   

[Georgie]

I don't have bindweed as such in my garden but it does creep in now and then from next doors' neglegted patch.   >:(  So I can't dig it out but I do pull it up everytime I see the tiniest bit.  Another tip if you can't get to it regularly is to put lots of canes in where it's growing so it scrambles up the canes, rather than strangling your plants.

G x

[supersprout]

I don't have bindweed as such

Reminds me of a friend of mine whose OH was supposed to be putting up shelves. It was on his to do list, and she started fretting after a couple of weeks - he's a very meticulous worker and also gets easily distracted. He said he'd definitely do it at the weekend, so she retired to her room and listened out for drilling and banging. She heard lots of whistling and humming but nothing more energetic. After several hours she could bear it no longer and called out 'Have you got those shelves up dearest?' (as you do)

Long pause -
then 'Erm, not as such' ::)

Sorry, back to the bindweed - if it's not under black plastic, I just treat it as an annual weed in the beds and pull it up thru the mulch whenever I see it. It's gotta give up before I do :-X

[Alimo]

Just keep pulling it up with as much root as possible - if you can dig it out, but if it's growing through veggies and you can't dig, then keep pulling.

It does get the message - eventually.  We've been here for 7 years and are still getting some, but nothing like the masses we had the first summer.

Alison

[amphibian]

Just like so many of you out there, I took over a very neglected plot that was choked with Bindweed and couch grass. After 2 years of constant digging I've almost got it under control but it still seems to raise its ugly head and try to choke the life out of my tender veggies. Curiously it seems to grow almost symbiotically with Couch Grass. Every clump of Couch appears to have its companion tangle of Bindweed roots. Might be just coincidental but it all gets dug up and burnt.  For the non organically minded, talk to a friendly farmer. They have chemicals that will kill it instantly if painted onto the leaves....Better get back to the lottie to see if any more has sprung up over night.... ;D...Dinger

Curious, I have almos found the opposite. I had no visible bindweed at all, but as I have licked the couch into shape it has turned up. It grows out of the underside on the inverted couch turves, like it couldn't compete before.