Dropped lucky got a plot

I managed to get an allotment plot yesterday!!! I've been on the waiting list for a local council plot for little under a year now. But while out shopping yesterday a mate rang me saying he'd been emailing a woman who said she had several spare plots available and he was going to look at them and would I like to go along. Obviously shopping was abandoned kids and wife were packed in the car and off we went. As luck would have it she had 2 empty plots side by side so decided to go for those 2 as we can look after each others plots when needed. The plots are quite over grown but it seems to be mainly grass With weeds in we are thinking of hiring a turf cutter between us to clear the plot. What do you guys think?

 

Fantastic news!

If it was me I would cut the grass and stuff down now, and then spray with Roundup once it starts growing, so you get a flying start into this season. I don't use chemicals on the veg patch unless the crop is threatened with annihilation but even I was happy to use Roundup, at the outset, to get a flying start.

I've used a turf cutter before, never found them that successful - every stone and they bounce and stop cutting turf. Had to put a heavy bloke on the back to get it to "bite" at all.

 

I was thinking about using round up today actually Kirsten how soon can you plant after using it?

 

Kristen sorry damn corrective text

 

If it's couch grass you take the top off with a turf cuttter, all the roots will be left behind to re-sprout. Might be worth looking below ground Couch grass. I saw somebody hire a turf cutter for a weekend, strip off the top growth (and unwittingly stack it on top of the productive rhubarb patch that only had tiny shoots, killing it), then immediately start planting. The couch grass then came back amongst the new plants and before he could clear it around them it was back worse than before over the entire plot again.

 

What the process of using round up entail. By that I mean once sprayed what do I do next? How long will the process take from spraying to planting my first plants

 

Roundup (cheaper bought as the generic "Glyphosate") is inactivated on contact with the soil, so apart from leaves still wet with herbicide making contact with new plants :( you can, in principle, plant straight away.

However, it takes a while for Glyphosate to translocate down to the roots from whence it kills the plants, so I would suggest that you don't disturb the patch for 2 weeks after treatment, and you might want to then re-treat any bits that you clearly missed, or didn't "take" well the first time. Thus a "lead time" of 4 weeks from first treatment to being ready to cultivate and plant would be ideal.

Its a pity you need to wait for active growth in the Spring before Glyphosate will be effective - I wonder how soon you could start?

What part of the country are you in? (It would help if you could put your Location in your profile, it would show up next to your Avatar on the left then )

 

Has that worked?

 

Congratulations, Dan! I've never hankered after an allotment but I can imagine you will have lots of happy hours up there. Brilliant that you managed to get a plot next to your mate

Your location is showing up fine

 

Strange I added my location but it hasn't appeared under my avatar. Any way I'm in Leeds if that's any help kristen

 

Dan, your location is showing fine

 

Thanks mum I'm well chuffed. Even better still that its next to a mate. Means we can share costs and labour of all sorts. Strange the location doesn't seem to be showing on my phone

 

probably not part of what is displayed on the Mobile Format, to save screen space, but it shows up just fine on my PC

Bit further North in Leeds, so that may mean you need to spray a bit later.

Depending on the plot size, and your budget, you could spray now and then again in a few weeks time. The initial spray won't be as good as a later one, but it will start the process going, and save some timer overall, but if budget is tight you may not want to do that.

Point to note: Roundup / Glyphosate kills whatever it touches. Do not allow it to come into contact with anything you want to keep (including neighbours plants ) and watch out for drift if there is any breeze. You can use a watering can to apply it, but it is less effective than a sprayer as it tends to run off the plant. Watch our where you walk after application as you probably will have it on your boots. Whatever you use, or mix it in, make sure its thoroughly cleaned out before you use it for anything else, however it would be much better to only use those vessels for weedkillers in future. If you won't need to do weedkiller again then maybe see if a mate has a sprayer they only use for weedkillers and borrow theirs for the day?

Roundup / Glyphosate is relatively safe to you and other animals - take the precautions on the instructions, but you don't need to dress up like its a nuclear fallout zone! However, it is very harmful to fish and aquatics, so avoid ponds and rivers etc.

Different people have different views on herbicides etc. so you'll need to form your own view on them. My view is to use it once for a kick-start, and thereafter try to keep free of noxious chemicals (I exclude man made fertilizers from that). IMHO getting a flying start is more likely to give you time to get the plot turned round and into production, whereas doing it by hand there is greater risk that the job gets the better of you, or you get disheartened, and I think its better to give newbies the best shot at getting a productive first season and then they will be hooked for life.

Article in March's RHS mag "The Garden" on "How grow-your-own can help war on waste".

"Institute of Mechanical Engineers report 'Global Food: Waste Not, Want Not' states that half the world's food is wasted (between 1.2 and 2 billion tonnes a year) because of poor storage and transportation, supermarkets encouraging multi-buys, and a reluctance to buy 'ugly veg'. In UK 30% of vegetable crops are wasted because they do not meet visual standards"

The mag then says that it is likely that allotment growers value the work that went into growing their crops, and waste less as a result.

Amen to that! "half the world's food is wasted" blow me down. Even if miles off beam its still going to be a scandalous amount.

 

Thanks for the help kristen much appreciated by the way!!!
I already have an opinion on herbicides etc and that is I want to be as organic as I can but I do see a valid reason for using the weed killer to get the plot under control and productive in a short space of time. if I decide against herbicide I can employ several family members to help dig with me. The guy who does the contracts is away on holiday so it will be at least a week before its all signed so this gives me time to mull it over. I'm going this wknd to measure up and take pics so I will investigate the weeds a bit further

 

They will help folk here to make suggestions