How To Control Weeds In The Upcoming Wet Season

Knowing how to control weeds in the wet season is what can make or break a garden, crop or pasture – particularly when we’re expecting a wild one this year. 

Last month in September, the Bureau Of Meteorology announced that Australia was to expect a return to La Niña weather patterns across 2020-2021. After many years of extensive droughts and bushfires affecting large portions of the Land Down Under, if the timing works out – it could potentially provide some much needed relief for Aussie farmers and rural residents who’ve struggled with a lack of water resources. However, it also could spell disaster for those trying to plant new crops, along with the very real possibility of flooding and cyclones looming in the distance. 

What Is A La Niña Weather Pattern? 

A La Niña weather pattern occurs when equatorial trade winds become stronger, and change the ocean’s surface currents. This draws cooler deep water up from below the sea, and results in a cooling of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. 

What this often means for Australia is that the conditions become more favourable for rising air, cloud development, cooler temperatures and a dramatic increase in rainfall. Our last La Niña weather event was during 2010-2011, or a period in our history that many Australians associated with torrential flooding and the widespread damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Yasi. In a nutshell, the average wet season rainfall that occurs between December and March is 20% higher than the annual averages – so we can expect the rest of the year to be a damp one.

So what does this all mean for Australian farmers, and how do they prepare for a La Niña event?

How To Control Weeds In The Wet Season 

Although more rain eases the pressure when it comes to producing a healthy crop, it also encourages and accelerates weed growth in pastures and fields. Even without the presence of a La Niña weather system, farmers often strike early and strike hard when it comes to weed control.

As spring turns into summer across the Australian landscape, weeds grow and temperatures get warmer. As the heat rises, the weed increases the thickness of the cuticle, which is the nearly impenetrable covering on the plant. And as the cuticle thickens, your expensive post emergent herbicide drips off the weed with little impact.

The tricky thing about excessive rainfall is that the runoff from both pre emergent and post emergent herbicides can easily flow into other sections of your environment that you didn’t intend on, risking the health of both the landscape, crops, livestock and pets. As the conditions become less and less favourable for producing a healthy crop – is there an alternative? 

What Is Bioweed, And How Can It Control Weeds Safely?

As one of the agronomists employed by Bioweed, Nick Sell is rapidly becoming a key figure within the chemical free farming practices, and gardening solutions industry. When it comes to navigating the Australian agriculture scene, this “soil doctor” gets just as much pride from assisting large scale farming enterprises in sourcing natural weed solutions, as he does from prepping the soil for a vertical herb garden in the city. When it comes to sourcing a glyphosate free weed solution, it turns out that you can actually get the best of both worlds. 

“There’s a high chance that you’ve probably used a post emergent herbicide before, as it’s a general weed killer that controls weeds once they’ve already popped through the soil’s surface. On the other hand, pre emergent herbicides can be great as it sits in the soil and essentially waits for the seed to germinate, killing the young root shoots, but requires a little more forethought. The beauty of a product like Bioweed is that it actually holds properties from both pre and post emergent herbicide solutions. Providing that you are able to get full contact on the seed and as well as leaf coverage on the surface, you’ll effectively kill two weeds with one stone.” 

To source more environmentally friendly gardening and farming solutions that will ultimately make your home or pastures safer – particularly when it comes to how to control weeds in the wet season – get in touch with the team at Bioweed today.