Successful crop care

The objective of crop care is to promote the growth of the crops. This is influenced by various factors, including crop-specific characteristics, such as sensitivity at different stages of plant growth, the composition of neighbouring weeds, and the potential harm that the weeds can inflict on the crop. On top of that, soil conditions in the field, weather conditions during the planting season, and precise seed placement during drilling are essential for a successful crop.

Weeding strategy

The composition of the different weeds growing next to the crop is crucial for choosing the right crop care strategy.

Seed weeds reproduce generatively by scattering their seeds. In order to minimise competition with the crop, seed weeds are best controlled when the cotyledons emerge by covering them with soil or uprooting them.

Root weeds, on the other hand, primarily reproduce vegetatively by resprouting. Reliable control can only be achieved by slicing through the newly sprouted plants.

Hoeing and tine harrow technology

Tine harrows make an important contribution to row-independent weed control, primarily against seed weeds.

Thanks to their versatility, they have become key machines in organic farming.

New agronomic challenges are strengthening the role they play in integrated crop production. For example, tine harrows achieve good results when soil herbicides are less effective due to long-term dry conditions, because plants developing a resistance to them, or the loss of active ingredients.

Modern tine harrow technology reaches its limits with long-established weeds and perennial root weeds. These need to be suppressed by soil cultivation, using implements such as a shallow cultivator or a row crop cultivator.

How the tine harrow works

The objective is to use the tine harrow to control the weeds at the early filament to cotyledon stage. That is why the first deployment of the tine harrow should be as early as possible If harrowing is carried out later, the success of mechanical weed control diminishes.

The the way the tine harrow works essentially consists of two factors:

• Covering with soil: the top layer of soil is moved by the tines so that the weeds are buried. This stops photosynthesis so that the weeds wilt away.

• Uproot and expose: some of the weeds are pulled out of the soil by the tines and are deposited on the surface to dry out.

In addition, soil incrustations can also be broken up to a certain extent to restore the essential exchange of water and gases.

Selectivity

Selectivity refers to the protection of the plant against damage during the tine harrow process. 100% selectivity means no damage to the crop.

Crops need a growth advantage over the weeds, which is further extended each time crop care processes are carried out. That is why PÖTTINGER recommends deploying the tine harrow as early as possible.

+ = full use of tine harrow

o = Striegeln eingeschränkt möglich

- = kein Striegeln möglich

Stale seedbed

Using a stale seedbed (false seedbed) means preparing the seedbed around ten days before drilling. Immediately before drilling, the tine harrow is deployed with a shallow and aggressive setting.

This eliminates the first wave of weeds before drilling so that there is no risk of damage to the crop.

Using the tine harrow before drilling reduces the potential weed threat and gives the crop the advantage of smoother and more consistent seed emergence.

The selectivity for harrowing the stale seedbed is 100% because the crop has not yet been drilled at the time the tine harrow is deployed.

Blind harrowing

Blind harrowing is the term used to describe a pass with a tine harrow after drilling the seed, but before the crop has emerged.

The selectivity of blind harrowing depends on the distance between the seedling and the harrow tines. A safe distance between the tines and the seedlings ensures high selectivity and very low risk of crop damage.

As a rule, blind harrowing is a very effective measure and, in good conditions, has a comparable effect to a soil herbicide.

If blind harrowing is included in the weeding strategy, the seeds should be drilled a little deeper to extend the period during which blind harrowing can be carried out.

Harrowing in the crop

The tine harrow should not be used on a crop that has just emerged. Only once the crop is sufficiently rooted can the next harrowing pass take place.

From this point onwards, selectivity is influenced greatly by the growth advantage of the crop compared to the weeds. Ideally, the resilience of the established crop is higher than that of recently germinated weeds.

Initially, harrowing should be carried out at lower pressure and a lower speed. The more robust and firmly rooted the crop is, the more aggressively it can be harrowed. This boosts the effectiveness of weed control.