Pinto peanuts - taking over everything!

[PeterW]

Pinto peanuts were recommended as great nitrogen fixers in my permaculture training, but nobody told me how invasive they are. They have taken over three whole raised beds in our vege garden. About a year ago I spent a couple of days eliminating them (I thought) from two beds - digging down to get them out the hard way. Now they are back in those beds stronger than ever, and the task of digging them out again seems futile. They have also carpeted other areas of our garden, and are advancing strongly through the citrus grove. This year's incredible rainfall is boosting them out of all sight.

(I'm in Nimbin, very wet subtropical climate)

Does anyone have any experience of successfully getting rid of them?

Any comments appreciated,
Peter

[sweetpea]

Thanks for warning us. Sorry it's turned out to be so troublesome. I live in a very rural place where I guess you could say the weeds are invasive, it's not possible to get rid of them, but I can keep them at bay by blocking out the light with something heavy, like boards, or very thick black plastic with chunks of broken cement over the top or at minimum of a shovel's depth of dense, wet straw with boards and blocks.

I mow the weeds first, as close to the ground as I can get, then block the light, but the heavy part is what speeds it up. In just a few days they will get all pale and smashed. It would take weeks to knock them back somewhat. If the greens can't get light they will eventually slow down and hopefully die back. If they were weighted all winter it would be more effective.

But I was just thinking, I have this great little clover ground cover that I encourage because of its ability to fix nitrogen, and it has great little flowers that the insects love, and I leave it, but dig out a small place to put transplants in, and leave the rest in place.

Do you think your vegetables could grow surrounded by the peanuts? Maybe they will be compatible. keep the greens pulled so the peanuts do not shade everything else, but dig out the planting area, don't just pull the greens. Then very densely mulch with straw or hay on top of the peanuts, blocking out the light, but not over your vegetables, just around them.

The peanuts are fixing nitrogen, which is good, they are a good crop? You didn't say whether you liked the peanuts? Is your soil nicer with them there? Are there more worms?

[PeterW]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try mowing (actually brushcutting) two beds and covering them with black plastic. I'll leave one covered for 2 months and the other for 4 months, then see how they look.

The idea of running them around the veges is problematic: they grow much faster than just about any veges, and their roots go quite deep, say at least 45 cm / 1.5 feet, which is also deeper than most of the veges. I think that without DAILY cutting back and fussing around every vege plant, the veges would lose the battle, and that's without considering the pinto peanuts' habit of spreading UNDERground - i.e. invisibly. I tell you they're a nightmare!

[ppp]

Sounds like they are doing their job nicely

[PeterW]

Sounds like they are doing their job nicely

If their job is to colonise the world with pinto peanuts, I'd agree with you. I'm hoping to recruit the right plants for my job of growing veges for our table.

[eco4560]

You must have the ideal climate for them. At my place I put in runners almost 2 years ago and they are still only about 1m2 around the original planting. Think of it as a mulch / compost resource that you don't have to buy rather than as a weed. It helps keep your blood pressure down!