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Those plants that we call weeds can often have many useful functions- many are edible , medicinal , attract wildlife, increase biodiversity, provide valuable information about the condition of our land (eg, nettles (Urtica diocia) indicate a fertile soil, whilst the presence of horsetail (Equisetum arvensis) suggests poor soil and waterlogging ) or can act as ‘ dynamic accumulator s’, bringing up and making available deficient nutrients from the subsoil with their roots. As A.W. Hadfield states; "We could never for long be free of them, and we would be the poorer without them" (from the introduction to How To Enjoy Your Weeds, Muller Press, 1969). However, weeds can also compete with our productive crops, and given half a chance will quickly return cultivated land to a wilderness state.
By their very nature, and the fact that these are the plants that are naturally adapted to local conditions, weeds tend to thrive at the expense of our more refined edible or ornamental crops. They provide competition for space, nutrientNutrients and the body A nutrient is any element or compound that is necessary for or contributes to an organism's metabolism, growth, or other functioning. There are six nutrient groups and these can be divided into those that provide energy and those ths, water and light, although how seriously they will affect a crop depends on a number of factors. Some crops have greater resistance than others- smaller, slower growing seedlings are more likely to be overwhelmed than those that are larger and more vigorous. OnionFor the parody newspaper, see The Onion''. For the computer networking technique, see Onion Routing. Onion in the general sense can be used for any plant in the genus Allium but used without qualifiers usually means Allium cepa also called the garden onios are one of the crops most susceptible to competition, for they are slow to germinate and produce slender, upright stems. Quick growing, broad leafed weeds therefore have a distinct advantage, and if not removed, the crop is likely to be lost. Broad beans however produce large seedlings, and will suffer far less profound effects of weed competition other than during periods of water shortage at the crucial time when the pods are filling out. Transplanted crops raised in sterile seed or potting compost will have a head start over germinating weed seeds.
Weeds also differ in their competitive abilities, and can vary according to conditions and the time of year. Tall growing vigorous weeds such as fat hen (Chenopodium album) can have the most pronounced effects on adjacent crops, although seedlings of fat hen that appear in late summer will only produce small plants. Chickweed (Stellaria media), a low growing plant, can happily co-exist with a tall crop during the summer, but plants that have overwintered will grow rapidly in early spring and may swamp crops such as onions or spring greens.
The presence of weeds does not necessarily mean that they are competing with a crop, especially during the early stages of growth when each plant can find the resources it requires without interfering with the others. However as the seedlings’ size increases, their root systems will spread as they each begin to require greater amounts of water and nutrients. Estimates suggest that weed and crop can co-exist harmoniously for around three weeks, therefore it is important that weeds are removed early on in order to prevent competition occurring. Weed competition can have quite dramatic effects on crop growth. Harold A Roberts cites research carried out with onions wherin "Weeds were carefully removed from separate plots at different times during the growth of the crop and the plots were then kept clean. It was found that after competition had started, the final yield of bulbs was being reduced at a rate equivalent to almost 4 per cent per day. So that by delaying weeding for another fortnight, the yield was cut to less than half that produced on ground kept clean all the time." (The Complete Know And Grow Vegetables, Bleasdale, Salter and others, OUP 1991). He goes on to record that "by early June, the weight of weeds per unit area was twenty times that of the crop, and the weeds had already taken from the soil about half of the nitrogen and a third of the potash which had been applied".
Perennial weeds with persistent underground stems or bulbil s such as couch grass (Agropyron repens) or buttercup (Ranunculus repens) are able to store reserves of food, and are thus able to grow faster and with more vigour than their annual counterparts. There is also evidence that the roots of some perennials such as couch grass exude allelopathic chemicals which inhibit the growth of other nearby plants.Weeds can also host pests and diseases that can spread to cultivated crops. Charlock and Shepherds purse may carry clubroot , eelworm can be harboured by chickweed, fat hen and shepherd’s purse, whicle the cucumber mosaic virus , which can devastate the curcubit family, is carried by a range of different weeds including chickweed and groundsel.
However, at times the role of weeds in this respect can be over-rated. As far as insectSubclass Apterygota Symphypleona globular springtails Subclass Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) Subclass Dicondylia Monura extinct Thysanura (common bristletails) Subclass Pterygota Palaeodictyoptera extinct Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata ( dragonfl pests are concerned, often the species that live on weeds are not the same as those that attack vegetable crops; "Tests with the common cruciferous weeds such as shepherds purse have shown that they do not act as hosts for the larvae of the cabbage root fly . One exception was found to be the wild radish, but this is not usually a weed of established vegetable gardens" (Roberts, The Complete Know And Grow Vegetables). However pests such as cutworm s may first attack weeds then move on to cultivated crops.
While charlock, a common weed in southeastern USAThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, may be considered a weed by row crop growers, it is highly valued by beekeepers, who seek out places where it blooms all winter, thus providing pollen for honeybees and other pollinators. Its bloom is resistant to all but a very hard freeze, and even that will only kill it back briefly. By feeding an array of pollinators during a seasonal dearth, it can redound to the farmer's advantage. Many weeds are likewise highly beneficial to pollinators.
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