In springtime, the first leaves bloom, Sun rays warm the earth, awakening plants from hibernation. This time of the year marks the beginning of the garden season, when the future crop is sown and weeds are actively fought. Euphorbia is considered one of the most unpleasant, persistent weeds. The endless struggle with this plant gives a lot of trouble to summer residents and gardeners. Each plant needs its own approach. This weed also requires special attention to get rid of it forever.
On this moment many species of this weed have been classified. In the photo, the euphorbia looks quite harmless green plant.
Description of the weed
This plant originally grew in the tropics - Africa and Madagascar. But the weed, over a certain period of time, multiplied on other continents, adapting to climatic conditions and soil composition.
The name spurge comes from the poisonous white juice, similar to milk, released by this representative of the plant world.
Euphorbia weed is usually 10-25 cm high. The trunk is large, fleshy. The whole plant is saturated with a large amount of juice that is released when you press it or break the stem. The roots are branched, reaching about a meter in depth. Thanks to such a developed root system, the weed easily extracts water from the bowels of the earth, even in drought.
In hot weather, during a lack of water, it looks drooping and lifeless. In this way, euphorbia negates the evaporation of moisture, keeping it for a very long time. IN good conditions the plant fills up quickly large areas. Adapts to any soil, even in swampy and rocky terrain, he is not a beginner.
Reproduction occurs through seeds that ripen in huge number, as well as young growth growing at the lateral roots. It will take a lot of strength to remove this weed, because if you just cut it without removing the root, it will grow back. In this case, instead of a single instance, a whole army of weeds appears.
Euphorbia is an aggressor, drinking all the juices from the soil, which provokes poor growth and development of agricultural crops. But, oddly enough, its appearance on a plot of land testifies to its fertility.
How to remove euphorbia in the garden
Since this plant is a weed, there are many good, effective ways to kill it. You can fight it chemically, mechanically, folk methods. Active actions aimed at getting rid of milkweed in the garden will lead to a complete victory over it within two years.
mechanical method
Weed warfare should be carried out in the first spring months, when the plant is just waking up and growing buds. Young growth must be removed along with the roots, not allowing it to germinate deep into the earth. After all, the smallest spine is capable of producing a whole army of pests in the future.
Gloves should be used to protect hands from milky juice and thorns.
It is dug with a shovel, it is better to dig the earth to the maximum depth in order to pull out all the roots. It is not worth mowing weeds, as lateral roots have offspring capable of reproduction. Moreover, by destroying only the green mass of the plant, its underground root system, starting the process of building up and propagating roots at a fast pace.
Chemical method
If the weed occupied the big land plot, then only chemistry will help here. The application of herbicides is made after getting rid of the grass mechanically and digging the soil. To destroy the pest, they are used as specialized preparations aimed only at euphorbia:
- lapis lazuli;
- roundup;
- dicamba.
and general herbicides:
- task;
- napalm;
- titus.
The combination of these methods guarantees getting rid of milkweed forever.
It is very good to use these preparations on the steam area, because after several applications the herb is destroyed forever.
If there is a small amount of weed and the plants are uprooted before they have flowered, it is not necessary to apply strong herbicides.
Folk remedies
Many gardeners do not welcome chemistry, and they do not want to use physical force or are lazy. For this category of people, effective methods for the destruction of milkweed, proven for centuries, are suitable.
- The infected area is treated with a strong solution of table salt. This method prevents the development of young growth and the root system.
- A strong soda solution is used to kill weeds and slow their growth.
- Acetic acid, sprayed on the green mass of milkweed, will only destroy it without affecting cultivated plants.
- Ordinary sawdust, scattered over the beds, a year later already rotten, half-decomposed are transferred to desired area earth and dig with them.
As we can see, getting rid of garden euphorbia is not difficult, subject to a comprehensive fight against it. The main thing is to notice the pest in time in order to take measures to prevent its reproduction in your garden.
In nature, there are a lot of varieties of milkweed. That is why some under this name represent a beautiful ornamental plant, while others are an annoying noxious weed in the garden. How to fight, and also what does this plant look like?
The homeland of wild tropical spurges is Africa and Madagascar. However, in the process of evolution, the plant has adapted so much not only to different climates and soils, but also to places of growth that today it already has more than 200 species. They are very different: some reach huge sizes and look like real trees (20 meters in height), others grow in small shrubs, others - in the form of squat small grass. Some decorative types are very beautiful and are grown in flowerpots and flower beds, but there are also those that populate gardens and kitchen gardens under the guise of a malicious weed. However, they are all connected by one and main feature- poisonous white juice which resembles milk. See the photo for what the plant looks like.
Today, spurge is common on almost all continents of our planet, they are unpretentious to the soil, many species tolerate dry hot weather well and are winter-hardy. In our country, they can be found mainly in the central, southern and eastern parts.
reproduction
If you look at the species of garden euphorbia, it is easy to understand how it reproduces. At the top of the plant are nectaries and flower stalks, about 2-3 cm long. It blooms from May to October, after which flat spherical three-nut fruits are formed in the peduncles. Weed breeds in the usual way with the help of seeds, sowing nearby areas. Decorative and tropical species milkweed most often and best propagated by cuttings.
Viability
As for the viability of milkweed, it depends on the type of plant. Speaking of a weed that grows in gardens and kitchen gardens, it is sown on its own, has dense and fairly strong roots, and good endurance. Can freely grow on dry soils, as well as cultivated vegetable gardens and orchards. Even after careful harvesting, the survival of the weed remains high if there are already seeds in the soil.
Struggle
As you already understood from the previous paragraph, the fight against euphorbia, like with many other "unnecessary" garden plants, is not so simple. It has a large root system and high stability, so even after careful digging it appears again after a while. It is best to control the weed by hand, as with many other herbs. In spring, it has small shoots and a small root system, so timely cleaning will help protect the garden from weeds. In summer, the plant is already growing stronger, blooming and has stronger roots, so you need to clean it carefully, followed by drying out the areas. If pieces of underground organs remain in the ground, they will take root and soon give new shoots. They need to be removed again, weeding the beds, as in the photo.
When harvesting weeds, do not forget to wear gloves and be careful, as the plant is poisonous. When it comes into contact with the mucous membrane, the juice causes severe irritation and burning. Also, if you have pets, make sure that this particular type of milkweed does not get into their feed along with the grass. Also, do not feed the shoots to cattle on your own. However, there is another kind of safe garden plant that can be given to pets, but if you are not familiar with the types of this weed, or rather, if you do not know for sure which one is poisonous and which is not, you better not risk it.
When flowering, make sure that the pollen of the plant does not scatter throughout personal plot, collect neatly in a pile.
Video
It is in June that it is one of the main tasks of the vegetable grower, because if you miss the time, then the weeds will enter the fruiting phase and their fresh seeds will fall into the soil. In addition, aggressive weeds, if not removed from the garden in a timely manner, will suppress the tender shoots of many horticultural crops. This, in turn, can lead to the loss of a significant part of the crop.
I described several traditional and not so weed control methods in, and now let's look at how else you can easily and effectively deal with grass on the site.
In order not to give weeds a single chance, cover the beds with a dense layer. I have already written about the benefits and mulching more than once, but I would like to emphasize once again that uncovered soil not only instantly overgrows with weeds, but is also more susceptible to drying out, compaction and erosion under the influence of natural elements. Any plant residues, special or even special mulch paper will fit into the role. The latter, unlike the film, will last only one season, as over time it rots and completely decomposes.
Many believe that weeding is useless in the fight against perennial weeds such as thistle, euphorbia, or dandelion. However, this is far from the case: if you arm yourself and prune the roots of these plants from early spring with an interval of 2 weeks, then by May there will be no trace of them. The fact is that at the beginning of spring, the substances accumulated in the roots provide intensive growth of the vegetative organs of these weeds. Therefore, during the first six months of growth, their roots are greatly depleted, and only then the leaves begin to supply nutrients to the roots. If in these first two weeks you manage to destroy the aerial part of the plant, then it will restore the vegetative system again at the expense of the roots, weakening them even more. Thus, timely weeding with a chopper or flat cutter will allow you to completely eliminate these types of weeds from the garden, and without significant labor costs.
The fight against wood lice also gives a lot of headaches to the amateur vegetable grower. Every tiny piece of its rhizome left in the soil remains viable and can germinate. As a rule, wood lice prefer to settle in those areas where there is a high acidity of the soil. To neutralize it, lime or ash is applied to the area overgrown with wood lice.
Mokritsa - a very insidious weed
You can completely get rid of wood lice by spraying it with kerosene. To do this, 100 grams of pure kerosene is poured into the spray gun and the crops are treated with it. After 2-3 days, all woodlice plants wither. However, it must be borne in mind that this method is used only when the plants are in the stage of 3 true leaves, and only for seedlings of carrots and dill.
I advise you to read about all the ways to deal with sleepiness.
In the fight against weeds in the garden, non-moldboard tillage helps a lot, in which weed seeds remain in its upper fertile layer. Thus, the weeds that sprouted in the same autumn or next spring will either be beaten by frost or cut off during the first flat-cut tillage. However, if the clogged soil is dug up with a shovel or plowed, then the seeds are evenly distributed throughout the arable layer, partly germinate, and hide in deeper soil layers without losing their germination capacity for up to 20 years or more. If you still firmly stand for the autumn digging of the soil, then in no case do not break the clods formed in its process.
Astrologers advise starting to fight weeds in the garden on the waning moon and when the moon is in the signs of the Earth - Capricorn, Taurus or Virgo (best of all - in Capricorn). Believe or not believe recommendations lunar calendar It's a matter of personal choice, of course. However, I myself try to avoid any work on the site on the so-called disharmonious days and spend planting mainly on successful ones.
What kind of tricks does not have to go to the summer resident in order to grow excellent harvest vegetables and fruits. Fertilize the soil, carry out regular watering, mulch plantings, tie up plants, and regularly fight weeds on the site. Unfortunately, the gardener has many such "enemies" as unwanted vegetation in the garden. Euphorbia also adjoins this group.
This garden plant belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. In length, it can reach from ten to twenty-five centimeters. The stems of the weed are very thick, one might even say fleshy, creeping along the ground. In most cases, there are small nodes on the stems. The oblong leaves of the plant can reach three centimeters in length.
Monoecious flowers are surrounded by a cupped veil. The inflorescence consists of one female and ten to twelve male flowers. The fruit of milkweed is a three-lobed trioreshek. The plant blooms from July to August. Among other types of weeds, euphorbia vine is of particular concern to gardeners. It is often used in traditional medicine, however, it is he who is a weed.
Milkweed control methods
Euphorbia vine has one advantage - it is a root system penetrating deep into the soil. It is for this reason that the plant is not afraid of drought, because it can take moisture and nutrients from great depths. Weed control is possible only by combining agrotechnical and chemical methods.
1. Herbicides
If some part of the garden is heavily clogged with milkweed, it should be taken under fallow, then there will be more opportunities to fight the weed. Here you can increase the dosage of herbicides, as well as carry out chemical treatment continuously, without fear for the crop. In the fight against milkweed, an increase in the rate of chemicals is especially important, since the leaves of the plant are covered with a special wax layer. Upon contact with the chemical, this layer prevents the penetration of herbicides into the root system, and the effectiveness of the drug is reduced several times.
In the fallow area, in drought conditions, after two or three chemical treatments, spurge stops growing. Many gardeners believe that this is the end of the weed fight, however, to their surprise, in the spring, spurge again pulls its sprouts to the sun. Therefore, processing is carried out in the first half of summer. To combat euphorbia, herbicides such as Lazurit, Roundup, Dicamba are used. One herbicide spray should be combined with two machining weeds.
2. Agricultural practices
The mechanical way to deal with euphorbia comes down to regular pruning of weeds. Uprooting plants is a waste of time. A deep root system will certainly leave a small shoot in the ground, from which a new weed will then develop. But, as we have already found out, it is almost impossible to defeat spurge without the use of herbicides.
Many questions arise among those gardeners who dared to switch to natural farming. Here is one of them: “I decided not to plow a plot for potatoes, and now I watch with pain how it is overgrown with thistle. What to do?". I immediately remembered how a bindweed ruined all the asphalt at a neighbor's dacha. This arrogant aggressor weed sprouts even through such a dense cover. The conclusion immediately suggests itself: the bindweed began to grow because the neighbor's parking lot was asphalted. Or I'm wrong?
I have friends. They plow in autumn and spring, and in summer they sadly watch the field grow over with weeds. Why? Yes, just weed laziness ... Gentlemen, farmers, do not dissemble! Perennial weeds do not grow because they are not plowed. They have grown before, you just weed them out in time. What prevents you from doing the same on an unplowed plot? Applying principles natural farming, you will gradually reduce the number of weeds. A layer of mulch will keep annual weeds in check. But with perennials you still have to work.
Of course, if you purchased neglected area, which is completely covered with perennial weeds, it is worth taking long-term measures. If everything is not so bad, then you can sow green manure that can suppress weeds. For example, sweet clover. In two years, he will displace unwanted vegetation, and in one year he will heal the soil. If you don’t have time for such drastic measures, grab a flat cutter. But without despair.
Eat Interesting Facts. The forests near the village where I live are plowed. These are the so-called fire lanes. They plow up every year. In the middle of summer, they are visible from afar - huge plants of thistle thistle and milkweed rise on them. But nearby, on the edges and in the forest, they are not. Question: why are there no weeds where the land is not plowed, and why are they there where it is plowed every year?
Behind my shed for a long time there was a pile of clay. It seems that it didn’t interfere, and they didn’t reach to remove their hands. In the second year, sow thistle and colza plants appeared on it, then spurge. A year later, a bunch of wheatgrass climbed. So gradually the pile became overgrown with weeds. When I decided to remove it, I found on its surface a five-centimeter layer, similar to a meadow bed, in which there were "granules" of black earth.
Those herbs that we call noxious weeds are actually the orderlies of the soil. They grow in plowed areas, on heaps of construction and other debris, in general, wherever a person has violated the natural state of the soil. If you cut yourself, then the skin tries to recover - the wound heals. So is the soil. Nature does not tolerate emptiness, seeks to restore what we have spoiled. Moreover, everything happens wisely. For every disease there is a cure. Different weeds grow on different soils, namely those that can most quickly restore soil fertility.
At a low temperature in a person, doctors do not advise knocking it down - let the body fight. Otherwise, immunity is lost, and a person can die from a mild cold. The growth of weeds can be compared to the processes that occur during a person's illness. Temperature delivers very discomfort- but it is an indispensable companion of recovery. Weeds are the same, we really don’t like them, but they are the most the best helpers in soil restoration. We do not understand enough why this or that weed grows in our garden, how it can help restore the soil. But our ignorance in no way cancels the laws by which nature lives. The principle of natural farming is not to interfere with the soil itself to recover. So, weeds have the right to be. It is only necessary to restrain their activities within reasonable limits.
If life hands you a lemon, make lemonade out of it. Since you can’t do without weeds, you need to change your attitude towards them. For example, sow thistle with its roots goes into the subsoil deeper than four meters. And from the lower horizons it extracts nutrients, translating them into digestible cultivated plants shape. Why not help! Most weeds are able to use for food what cultural forms do not suit. And, dying, they create food for our pets. Keep this in mind when weeding. Does the need to carry and scatter humus or compost over the beds, fill the beds with mulching materials really pisses you off? So rejoice, looking at the cut weed - it is both mulch and fertilizer.
He interferes in the garden - cut and leave in place. Without green mass, the roots will gradually become exhausted and die. But, despite your efforts, the weed will still have time to work to restore the soil. As in that joke about health workers: “We treated like that, treated like that, but he got better anyway!” Forgive me, dear doctors ... But in fact, this is how it turns out. The soil gives us signals about its disease by the appearance of weeds and with the help of them it tries to cover its wounds. And we pull them out - and over the fence, that is, we tear off the bandages. And it would be necessary on the contrary - to cover open spaces mulch or plant ground cover crops.
How to get rid of at once perennial weeds and at the same time not violate the principles of natural agriculture? I don't know. Who knows, tell me. In one of the Internet forums I found an example of a radical solution: the owners were tired of fighting weeds and ... sold the cottage. Also an exit. But for me this is not acceptable.
I remember an incident from my childhood. I am 12 years old. What I love most in the world is fishing. The nearest body of water is 14 kilometers from the house. It was still dark, I got up, got on my bike and went to the river. And during the day you have to go back. Headwind, heat, fatigue from lack of sleep. Somewhere after half the way, I thought in my head: “I will never go to this river again! Well, is this ten carp worth such torment! Especially since I don’t eat fish…”. I get home exhausted. And at night, as soon as I close my eyes, I see a trembling float. I wake up without an alarm, take my fishing rods and get back on the bike ...
Therefore, I think that if you don’t have the patience to put up with constantly appearing weeds, everything is simple - buy vegetables and fruits in the store. And if you can not part with the garden - "get on the bike." It’s not for nothing that people say: “Patience and work will grind everything ...”
Patience to you!
Oleg Telepov, member of the Omsk Club of Potato Growers