Vegetable season is well underway and early planted vegetable crops are already about one month old. Many fields have or soon will need to be cultivated. As such, I thought it would be timely to “repost” this video on “new” technologies for cultivating weeds - 1) a camera-guided side-shift hitch and 2) finger weeders, an in-row weeding tool (Fig. 1). The video shows the device operating in seedling corn, but it will work similarly in other crops such as broccoli or cauliflower.
We have found the devices work well. Trials conducted in cotton over 3 years showed that use of camera-guidance improved weed control by more than 30% and finger weeders removed about 45% of the in-row weeds. Weed control using the two technologies together simultaneously was roughly 90% for broadleaf weeds and about 85% for all weed species including grasses.
If you are interested in trying these technologies, please contact me. We still have the equipment and I’d be happy to work with you.
Fig. 1. Technologies for precision cultivation and in-row weeding include a) a
camera-guided side-shift hitch attached to a cultivator and b) in-row weeding
tools (finger weeders).
Watch the Video Below