weeds

Question 1

what type of annual is black night shade and how does it die off

Answer 1

• summer annual

- dies off with frosts in the late autumn

Question 2

what is the difference between black night shade and deadly nightshade

Answer 2

• black nightshade is not as poisonous and less common only found occasionally around Christchurch

Question 3

How is black nightshade usually spread?

Answer 3

birds eat the berries and spread the seeds through their droppings

Question 4

When is black night shade a big problem?

Answer 4

when it grows in pea crops are the green berries are hard to distinguish from the baby peas

Question 5

how is black nightshade generally controlled

Answer 5

by cultivation and herbicides

Question 6

Fathen is one of the most common cropping weeds…. it is a summer annual what does this mean?

Answer 6

germinates in spring or early summer (main time is mid spring), produces seeds over summer and autumn and dies off with frosts in late autumn.

Question 7

what is a distinguishing factor about the foliage of fathen

Answer 7

• it looks like its often been sprinkled with flour especially younger leaves and flowering parts

Question 8

How is Fathen controlled

Answer 8

• generally an easy species to control through cultivation and use of most herbicides
• however there is now a resistant biotype usually found in the waikato that requires a specific type of herbicide

Question 9

Redroot is a summer annual but why is it able to tolerate drier conditions and more sensitive to frosts than other summer annuals

Answer 9

• it has a c4 physiology

Question 10

Redroot is a tall, upright plant with a redish tinge to its foliage it grow as high as …… or more under good conditions

Answer 10

1 metre

Question 11

How is redroot controlled

Answer 11

• mowing
• cultivation
• susceptible to most herbicides

Question 12

cleavers is an annual weed found in its vegetative state during winter and produces fruit mid to late spring, why is it considered to be sticky?

Answer 12

• the foliage and fruits have little hooks which allows them to cling to things

Question 13

why are cleavers easily destroyed bu cultivation or simply being pulled out ?

Answer 13

• they have brittle stems and short root systems

Question 14

How are cleavers commonly dispersed

Answer 14

the little hooks allow them to cling to humans and animals and transferred to new places

Question 15

How does nettle actually inflict the stinging

Answer 15

its sharp hairs on the foliage inject a number chemicals into the skin which sensitises the area and amplified the pain

Question 16

why is nettle usually found in stock camps or beside shelter belts on farms?

Answer 16

it needs bare soil to establish from seed