{"id":34521,"date":"2024-04-29T09:44:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T13:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=34521"},"modified":"2024-04-30T15:22:47","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T19:22:47","slug":"ditommaso-weeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/ditommaso-weeds\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Up with Weeds?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are reasons why they grow a lot faster and hardier than your lawn and veggies\u2014but a CALS prof has advice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Beth Saulnier<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cAs I tell my students, there are three sure facts in life,\u201d says CALS\u2019 Antonio DiTommaso<\/a>, \u201cdeath, taxes\u2014and weeds.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latter, he jokes, is \u201cjob security\u201d for him: DiTommaso is a professor of weed science, devoting his career to studying those tenacious, herbaceous adversaries of industrial-scale growers and home gardeners alike.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 15 years ago, DiTommaso spearheaded the creation of Cornell\u2019s Weed Science Teaching Garden<\/a>\u2014open to the public and boasting more than 100 species.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Professor<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

His student teams participate in annual weed-identification competitions<\/a>, held regionally and internationally.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(And you can skip the jokes about mind-altering substances of the smoked and edible varieties; he\u2019s heard them all before.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DiTommaso co-authored the seminal reference book <\/em>Weeds of the Northeast<\/a>, published by Cornell University Press and now in its second edition.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>
\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With gardening season on the horizon for much of the U.S., <\/em>Cornellians tapped him for some thoughts on how to deal with weeds\u2014and why some can be more friend than foe.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would you define: what is a weed?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing I do in my introductory weed science class is ask that question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some students will say a weed is \u201ca plant out of place\u201d or \u201ca human construct.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, \u201ca weed is a plant whose virtues have yet to be discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So \u2026 what is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It depends.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From an agronomic perspective, it\u2019s a plant that competes\u2014for nutrients, water, and other resources\u2014with the ones that we want to grow. But a naturalist would look at, say, common milkweed<\/a> as a native species that\u2019s the only food source for the monarch butterfly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So weeds have some benefits?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They do. For example, they provide erosion control and can grow during droughts. They\u2019re basically the wild relatives of our crops, so they have a lot of traits that allow them to survive. They grow between cracks in the sidewalk; none of our crops can do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some tips for weed management in a household yard?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One important thing is, make sure you don\u2019t mow the grass too low; leave three or four inches rather than scalping it, to allow it to compete for light, because weeds are much more adept at growing rapidly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

They\u2019re basically the wild relatives of our crops, so they have a lot of traits that allow them to survive.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t overfertilize, because weeds are much faster than any turf grass at uptaking nutrients. In the fall, you shouldn\u2019t rake leaves; just mulch them. That provides nutrients and improves soil health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other key thing is not allowing the weeds to go to seed. Depending on the size, each plant\u2014such as common lambsquarters<\/a> or pigweed<\/a>\u2014can produce 50,000 to 100,000 seeds, and they don\u2019t all germinate at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Pigweed\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"lamb's<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Common<\/figure>\n
Pigweed, lambsquarters, and milkweed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wait\u2014what?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s an adage, \u201cOne year of seeding equals seven years of weeding.\u201d That\u2019s because of seed dormancy, which is a trait that has been bred out of our crops; no grower wants to plant corn and only have 50% of it come up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the wild relatives still have that trait, and it\u2019s a great survival strategy. Why put all your eggs in one basket? If germination is staggered, it\u2019s OK if you miss one year because it\u2019s too wet; you might do great the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How about battling weeds in a home garden?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing I like to stress is that having bare, tilled soil is a perfect situation for weeds to grow. They\u2019re stimulated by light, and they have structures that can sense that there\u2019s no vegetation above them, so they should \u201cgo for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

There\u2019s an adage, ‘One year of seeding equals seven years of weeding.’<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You want to practice minimum tillage; just work the soil where you\u2019re going to plant. You can also use tarps or straw mulch; anything that protects the soil is usually helpful in keeping the weeds down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in the fall, be vigilant about uprooting any weeds; remember how many seeds they can produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After pulling weeds, is it OK to throw them on a compost pile?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, as long as they haven\u2019t produced seeds. The only weed that I would not recommend composting is a succulent called common purslane<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s got so much moisture that even three days out of the ground, it can reroot itself. I tell gardeners: put it in a black plastic bag on a hot, sunny day, and really fry it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Common
Not for composting: Common purslane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

If someone doesn\u2019t want to use chemical herbicides, are there other things that can be used to kill weeds?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can spray vinegar on it; it won\u2019t kill the entire plant, but will usually burn the top. If you\u2019ve got weeds coming up between the pavement, you can pour boiling water on them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A solution of salt in a high enough concentration will kill weeds. And of course, many commercial organic products have been around for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do weeds seem to grow so much faster than other plants\u2014the ones we actually want to succeed?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve adapted such that they invest everything in reproduction, and their life cycle is short; they have tens of thousands of seeds, whereas an oak tree that lives for 100\u2013300 years takes 20 or more years to start producing acorns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

They\u2019ve adapted such that they invest everything in reproduction, and their life cycle is short.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As much as we hate weeds, that can be a positive: because they\u2019re so quick to grow, they play an ecological role by protecting the soil when it\u2019s been disturbed by humans or a natural disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are some weeds especially worrisome right now, due to climate change?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes. I\u2019m actively involved in research on what weeds we should be concerned about, in the Northeast in particular\u2014things that have been problems down south, but which we never really worried about because our winters were cold enough to keep them at bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Professor
DiTommaso in the Weed Science Teaching Garden. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

One is kudzu<\/a>, which is often referred to as \u201cthe weed that ate the South.\u201d It can shade out trees, climb right over them, and cause saplings to topple during windstorms. It\u2019s of particular concern in the forest understories of natural areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many years, I was hoping it would never get to New York State\u2014but now it\u2019s in the lower Hudson Valley and all over Long Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, are the weeds always going to win?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t minimize how challenging it is. I mean, we\u2019ve been at this game for over 10,000 years, in terms of when agriculture got started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll think we\u2019ve got a great herbicide and then we have resistance issues. For example, some weeds have adapted to glyphosate\u2014the active ingredient in Roundup\u2014and we can\u2019t use it to control them anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kudzu
“The weed that ate the South.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s end on a cheery note: is there a plant widely considered a weed you\u2019re actually fond of?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dandelions! In the Italian-Canadian community where I grew up, we\u2019d eat them in the spring when they\u2019re young and tender; they\u2019re very nutritious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, a colleague just sent me a book<\/a> he wrote\u2014it\u2019s in French, but the title translates as Dandelions Against Lawns: A Story of Love, Hate, and the Lawnmower<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Top: Illustration by Caitlin Cook \/ Cornell University. DiTommaso photos by Ryan Young \/ Cornell University. Weed images provided.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published April 29, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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