"Say no to herbicides" clean your crops by hand, with the help of some tools

Hello friends, today I join this interesting challenge, which is related to the use of chemicals for pest and weed control in crops, the truth is, that the use of chemicals in agriculture is worrying, knowing that they are harmful to the environment, although we must recognize that chemical fertilizers have properties that coincide with the high expectations and needs of intensive agriculture, we also have to be aware that the use of these chemicals can also have serious effects on the environment and the health of those who consume products from plants that have been fertilized with such products.

Manually cleaning my chive crops

Well friends, about 10 days ago I made a post in which I told you that I had had a lot of problems with weeds, since because of the rains these weeds were growing very fast, and the chives, as well as the onions, do not develop well when there are weeds since the root part of the chives are very short, which prevents them from competing for nutrients in the soil and in addition to this, chives also need a lot of light so if the weeds cover them, the chives will stretch out in search of light and soon they will fall, so that this type of crops, as well as onions, garlic and almost all vegetables it is important to keep them free of weeds.

The best method for weeding vegetables is by hand

Well, friends, the best method for cutting weeds is by hand, using any tool, such as a machete or a hoe. But now you might say that weeding by hand is too harsh. Of course it is. That's why we shouldn't let weeds grow too much in our crops. The best strategy is to eliminate weeds as they appear. This way, they're easier to control and we spend less effort on them. And without using chemicals like Pendimethalin and Oxyfluorfen, among others. I mention these products because they are the most commonly used for weed control in onion and scallions.

Here I am with my children, cleaning the corn by hand, so say no to herbicides:

Hand cleaning my chives:

I also like to hand-clean papaya plants, so no chemicals:

Another method for weed control without the use of chemical herbicides is solarization.

Another method for weed control is plastic mulch, known as "soil solarization." This consists of watering the area of ​​soil where the crop will be planted and then covering it with a plastic sheet. By covering the soil with plastic, which is usually transparent, the sun's rays, when they hit the plastic, generate a certain amount of energy, which increases the soil temperature and eliminates weeds and all types of pests with the heat effect obtained.

Well, friends, I confess that I have only applied this solarization method, mostly in the area where I will be creating the seedbeds, and it has given me good results. I always water the seedbed area first and then cover it with plastic. I do this two weeks before distributing the seeds. This will help eliminate weed seeds and some bacteria, such as nematodes, that live in the soil.

Natural orange peel insecticide for the control of whiteflies and aphids

I tell you friends, that 6 years ago I had a crop of 2500 eggplant plants, until the fifth month everything was going well with excellent fruits, until suddenly the crop was invaded by the whitefly, so I began to fumigate the crop with all kinds of poisons including the systemic insecticide Imidacloprid and some PYRITHROIDS, but the whitefly was still there, until a friend recommended me to fumigate the crop with a mixture of orange peel, Neem leaves with bar soap, well friends, as I was desperate, I immediately prepared that mixture and fumigated the crop and the next day the result was surprising, because the whiteflies were barely seen in the crop, then I began to remove the leaves that were seen infected to burn them, until little by little I managed to save my eggplant crop, so from that moment I have used this mixture as a preventive measure in my crops.
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So far I have talked to you about weed control in my crops and the natural insecticide based on orange peel, but in another post I will tell you about my vermiculture which provides me with a wonderful natural fertilizer for my vegetable crops, I only have to tell you that the best method for weed control in crops is to cut them very small before they grow too much, sometimes we see them that are barely 5 centimeters long and we ignore them and when we see them again they are already more than 10 centimeters long, so do not drop the hoe, any weeds you see in your crops eliminate them quickly, greetings ...