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Weed learning module
Does soil physical quality (tilth) influence the effectiveness of cultivation?
Hypothesis:
As soil quality improves following transition to organic practices, cultivation becomes more effective at killing weeds.
Reasoning:
- The cultivator should be able to strip soil free from roots more easily when the soil is loose and crumbly.
- When throwing soil into the crop row to bury small weed seedlings a crumbly soil will cover seedlings more effectively than a cloddy soil since some weeds will likely survive between clods.
- Most weed seedlings arise from the top 1 to 2 in. of soil. If the seedbed is cloddy, however, weed seedlings can establish in the spaces between the clods. These will be rooted too deeply to be reached by tine weeders and other shallow working tools.
Plan of study:
Each year we take measurements of soil physical quality. These include:
- size distribution of soil aggregates,
- stability of aggregates when wet,
- ability of soil to conduct water,
- soil density,
- strength of slightly moist soil,
- volume of big pores,
- volume of little pores,
- volume of tiny pores,
- residual porosity,
- available water capacity.
We also count weeds before and after cultivations to see what percentage of them are killed. Counts at the first inter-row cultivation with and without previous tine weeding will tell us what percentage of weeds were killed by tine weeding in crops like soybean and sweet corn that get tine weeded. We will then relate the soil data to the weed data both across years as soil changes and between treatments.
Thought question:
From your experience, which of the soil physical measurements listed above are most likely to relate to cultivator performance? Here are some thoughts on this.
Return to weed learning module main page.
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