I planted a new set of seeds last week and I’m starting to see some sprouts peeking through the soil. One thing extra thing I noticed (like an unwanted bonus) that sprouts were popping up in my already established plants which are yet to flower after a few days of heavy wind. It looks like the weeds are trying to take up home in my peppers. Not on my watch!
They’ll drink up a lot of the water, grow very quickly and usually end up overshadowing your plant. Because the nature chain is pretty unforgiving, it’ll eventually mean that the weed will end up killing your approved crops because of how good their genetics are.
What we’ll need is a mulch, which is a layer of something over the top of the soil. This could be anything from wood chippings to stones. The main objective of it is to keep the soil a little warmer – which is perfect if you’re expecting frost, stop anything from growing around it and keep evaporation to a minimum so the soil doesn’t dry out as fast. Also, depending on what you pick, it can look quite pretty too.
Another way to prevent this is to plant in rows. If you see something outside of the row, you probably didn’t plant it. Keep them pretty far apart so you can walk through and take a look every few days.
If you’re already having a problem with weeds (or you think you are) find pictures of what you’re growing. Unless you’re growing a wildly exotic plant, it’s likely you’ll find pictures of it in the growing stages to compare to what you have. Although a lot of plants look similar, the shape or the leaves (coriander and basil are great examples of this) can be a dead giveaway. Sometimes you may just have to let it grow out to see, so separate it from the rest, preferably in a pot and check up on it once it gets big enough to be identified.
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Reading this makes me want to grow my own edible plants ??
Haha, don’t worry. It sounds like a lot but once you’re out there doing it, time just seems to fly by.