Thanks for your thoughtful article from your experience. It's helpful. Merla
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Here are some of my observations and other comments on flaming: > > The flame engineering pull behind flamers are finicky machines. The > Suburban Propane dealer in Sonoma County has not sold a unit in 2 > years. I bought 3 of them (with my clients) 3 years ago and there no > been many sales since. As the dealer in So. Co. said "you need to have > someone who likes to tinker with propane equipment to make these work > right." There are mechanical issues with their operation that need > maintenance on a regular basis. > > I gave a flame weeding field day, 2000, at which there was no flame > weeder present due to the company being unable to get the thing to > work before the workshop! Sounds like not much has changed. However, > there are units working in So. Co. and I assume that it can be > done...with mechanical skills. > > With a good quality cover crop in the tractor row (middles) then > reentry after rain is less likely to be damaging. We typically use one > side (every other row) as the driving row, and have cultivated a wear > resistant cover crop and residues to resist compaction. > > Light vehicles, ATV, are most often used for flaming. Tire pressure > should be checked to aid non compaction concerns. > > In that the best, and only, time to flame weeds is when they are very > small...and by the nature of flaming, there is no residues left. Not > only has there been limited or little root foraging to create > channels, little deposition of carbon from a small plant and lack of > residues...this leaves the soil under the vines bare and lacking > carbon. > > Hey, is flaming weeds paramount to ashing!? Naw, just kidding. ? > > Anything that removes the plant from under vines/trees reduces the > health of the soil in that area. Persistent use of a flame weeder, > herbicides or mechanical tillage results in poor soil structure and > resultant soil compaction. I have investigated old vineyards that have > never used a herbicide in which the soil under the vines is as hard or > harder than the "tire tracks" in the tractor row. We dug pits and > examined how deep the compaction was under the vines....2-3 feet, with > few fine roots, small pores spaces and poor structure. Earthworms were > not present under the vines but were isolated in the "strip" of soil > in between the vine row and the tire track area, that was not > compacted. > > Loss of the plant(s) from under vines/trees also creates the loss of > beneficial insect habitat, and the loss of a physical "bridge" which > acts to enable beneficial insects to gain access to the vines/trees. A > bare strip of soil under the vines discourages spiders, others to get > over to the vine from the cover crops in the tractor row. Take some > time and watch them...its clear that more insects access the vines if > there is cover under them. > > Removal of plants from under vines/trees might be considered as a > (occasional) part of a weed management rotation including cover crops. > I see a tendency to think of the flame weeder as an ultimate > tool....without consideration of the plants role in soil health. Often > times the "under the vine/tree" soil space can represent 33-75% of the > total soil surface area. Having that much of the soil surface bare, on > a consistent basis, results in soil compaction. > > I know...we need all the help we can get managing weeds. It is a day > to day learning process. I just know where I have under the vine cover > crops...I dont have weeds. > > How about a rotation over 3 years (with site specific timing) like > this...also does not have to be the same in each row. We have some > routines with every other row...some with every 3-4 row, that allows > for more on site learning. > Hoe plow > Flame > Vinegar > Cover crop > Mow under vines > Mow centers and blow under vines > Weed badger > Hoe plow > > Bob > > >
