- Author: Romy Basler
- Author: Oleg Daugovish
Rather than applying herbicides, try a cover crop to prevent weeds in anchor rows.
Cover crops in anchor rows can suppress weed growth and additionally help to minimize soil erosion and nutrient and sediment loss when it rains. Densely planted cover crops can outcompete weed seedlings germinating from the soil and prevent wind-dispersed seeds from reaching the wet soil surface. Check out the newly revised weed section in the Caneberries Pest Management Guidelines on the UC IPM web site.
Caneberry growing tunnels have the advantage that even when it rains caneberries remain dry. This helps with disease prevention and assures fruit quality. However, during rains, water drains from the plastic down into rows that contain the anchoring posts of the tunnel structure. The accelerated runoff in these post rows causes soil erosion and sediment and nutrient loss. Persistent soil moisture in post rows also promotes weed growth.
Cover crops are especially helpful when managing weeds that are difficult to control with fumigation because of their hard impermeable seed coats (mallows and filaree), or that have developed resistance to herbicides such as glyphosate and paraquat (hairy fleabane and horseweed). While weeds growing in the anchoring rows do not directly compete with canes, they can reproduce and quickly spread into neighboring cane rows.
Cover crops can be managed with mowing or herbicides to avoid seed production.
Cover crop growing in the anchor row in caneberry tunnel production.