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Generally speaking, a weed is defined as any plant growing somewhere it is not wanted. Weeds compete with trees and plants for water, nutrients, space, and sunlight. They also harbor insects and rodents that attack plants and trees. Weeds can also affect harvesting operations, disease control, water distribution patterns, and environmental conditions within the grove.
Weeds are annoying and fast-growing little plants that can grab all the nutrients and sunlight that your plants need. But the question is, why do they grow up so fast? This brief guide will explain why weeds grow fast, the right time to get rid of weeds and the best way to do it – spoiler alert, it’s with the best weed killer.
Life Cycle of Weeds
The weeds life cycle can be divided into four simple stages:
- Seedling
- Vegetative
- Seed Production
- Maturity
Every stage has different characteristics that help determine weed type, species, or its potential effect or impact on your plants. In the first stage, seedlings are delicate, small, and very young plantlets. The second stage occurs when plants are rapidly growing. In this stage, plants begin to produce stems, roots, and foliage.
In the seed production stage, the plants begin to produce seeds. In this stage, most of the energy is directed to seed production.
We then proceed to the next stage.
In the last stage, when the plants reach full maturity, the plants show little or no further growth. After the maturity stage, the weeds will have different growth characteristics that will affect its potential for control by selected herbicide combinations.
Reasons Why Weeds Grow So Fast
Here are a few reasons why weeds grow quite quickly!
- The seeds of weeds are always present in the soil of our garden. They patiently wait for just the right time, moisture, and temperature conditions to grow. Therefore, when we plant the seeds, the annoying weeds race out of the ground. They start the growth race right after we plant whatever we want.
- Sometimes, some weeds grow from a root left in the soil alive for many years. These kinds of plants are generally known as perennials. Such plants are much harder to kill than annuals and grow very fast. Sometimes, perennials are even hard to kill by the best weed killer.
- Weeds have this fantastic ability to grow anywhere they find space. Amazing, no? The weeds seeds have the ability to lay dormant in the soil for years before they find appropriate moisture and temperature conditions to start germinating. They come in abundance and from various sources. A single weed plant produces thousands of seeds when it actively starts growing. The produced seeds then get dispersed throughout the season.
The Right Time To Get Rid Of Weeds
At every single stage of weed development, the weed has different growth characteristics. These characteristics impact the potential of weed for control by selected herbicides combinations.
Generally speaking, the right time to use the best weed killers to get rid of weeds is when they are in the seedling stage. And when the weed plant is fully mature, it is most difficult to control. At this stage, the water movement is reduced compared to other more vulnerable growth stages of the weed plants. This reduced movement will limit the uptake and movements of herbicides within the plant.
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