scott3387 t1_ixpm7rf wrote on November 25, 2022 at 8:22 AM

The source of the weed problem is the constant tiling of the earth. Many farms around me have stopped doing it now thankfully but plenty still do it because 'that's what we have always done'.

Tilling brings dormant weed seeds up to the surface into a nice soft tilth. No till soil has about 20-50% of the weeds. It also kills 50% of the microbes every time you till (microbes are how nature converts organic matter into the stuff plants need to grow, replacing the need for fertiliser).

The problem is getting enough organic matter on the scale of thousands of acres which means that sadly artificial fertilisers are often still necessary but you don't need to till to sow seeds any more. There are automatic disk cutters, that put the seed in a very narrow slot with minimal disturbance.

Look up Dr Elaine Ingham (genius researcher) or Charles Dowding (practical teacher)

MiserylC t1_ixr90yv wrote on November 25, 2022 at 6:21 PM

Doesn't no till use Roundup to deal with weeds?

scott3387 t1_ixrd1ms wrote on November 25, 2022 at 6:50 PM

You can but it's generally a waste of money at home and you need far less in a field setting.

In a home garden, you start as you mean to go on with a thick layer of cardboard and 3 inches of organic matter (compost, manure, leaf mold etc, whatever you have). That smothers most weeds but things like bindweed might need continously removed until it runs out of energy (might take a year). After that a simple regular, light hoeing does most of the job for any rogue seeds blown in. Weeding takes me maybe 10 minutes a year total per 8x4 bed.