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mr_jake_miller

First attempt at garlic and onions

11 years ago




I'm giving a try at growing onions. I also got some wild garlic from a buddy and separated and planted.


What do you guys use for weed control?

Comments (15)

  • 11 years ago

    mulch, a hoe and fingers.


  • 11 years ago

    That's what I figured most would use here. I'll do some checking on herbicides.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Your alliums are not going to be roundup ready. You might be surprised how well a decent mulch works to eliminate weeding. I would water them in and then mulch them about 4" deep, only just deep enough that the green tops are sticking out. That will cut way down on the weeding and the need for supplemental watering too.

    I am not adverse to using herbicides, although I normally don't. There isn't much out there though that will kill other vegetation, especially grasses, and not harm alliums.

  • 11 years ago

    Corn gluten meal (organic preen) or preen itself is about the only thing that would work on weeds and not harm alliums that I know of. It is expensive though and only marginally effective IME.

  • 11 years ago

    I will mulch them in hard. I've got access to some old hay and straw.

  • 11 years ago

    I often sow some lettuce between onion rows and let it work as a smother crop for a few weeks, cuts down on a little weeding. I often cannot mulch until late May anyway because of lots of rain which leads to slugs.

  • 11 years ago


  • 11 years ago

    we use alfalfa straw and a paper mulch with precut holes.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Preen sucks.. don't waste your money. My garlic beds are mulched from Fall and the garlic is happy. I added some mulch to my onions this week, and mulched deep against the leeks to blanch the stems.

  • 11 years ago

    I have relatives who have used Preen for years and swear by it; I have never used it and do mulch but not constantly. Best results come from years of weeding the same garden space and so reducing the weed seed load being carried there. The younger you get the weeds out, the fewer seeds they produce and the sooner the weed load goes down, but be aware that some weed seeds can lay in the ground 50 years and still eventually germinate. There really is no easy answer. Just be as thorough as you can the first time and then every time. The garden my parents had on the farm had been garden for nearly a century by the time they sold the farm and they still had to do some regular weeding.

    The best fertilizer you can put on your garden is the lubrication of the joint between your upper and the lower arm, that and as much care as possible in how you apply it.


  • 11 years ago

    Ok, so I have some questions, I see the tops of my onions are starting to fall over. Should I be doing anything special? I'm going to mulch again after I mow tonight.


  • 11 years ago

    I think your onions are plenty mulched. Unless you get a drought, I'd start using the clippings for something else. Looks like they want some hot sun, your job is done.

  • 11 years ago

    Mine look no different and I am not really concerned. They can be weak... I don't think there is anything that can be done. If they fall over completely they probably need to be replanted.

  • 11 years ago

    That was a really thin layer of mulch. I added some more last night as I have a pretty good crop of waterhemp and lambsquarter coming through.

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