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Location

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Randlett, Oklahoma

How important are patch boards. What do you use? 2x6 or full sheet of plywood? Why not just walk to the edge of the plant and till your footsteps when you leave?

3/24/2017 11:48:15 PM

Grittyville, WA

Hi Jake- I am no expert but Holland makes a strong case against tilling around the plant by showing it is possible that the roots can exceed the vines in growth. Surprisingly the roots can grow even faster than the vines and extend beyond the vines so you would be tilling some roots possibly...

3/25/2017 3:45:18 AM

Walhalla, ND.

Yep, I have thought I'm careful not to till to close to the plant. There were times I'm four feet away from the plant and find I've tilled up a bunch of roots. Rookie mistake I guess it is.

3/25/2017 4:11:58 AM

Muddy Waters

Try the Bubba elevated plank system & let the vines grow under the plank so you dont step on the vines.If you walk on your soil you are breaking roots & opening the plant to disease.Plus you are packing down the soil slowing the root system down.Now I know my cuz Billy Bob Presley grew a 1700 lber & walked all over his dirt.All I can tell you is,it most likely would of been 2200 if he had stayed off his soil. Thats the tooth of the matter!!

3/25/2017 5:36:04 AM

aurora, IL

I agree!

3/25/2017 8:41:40 AM

https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7328/8880197337_88671d92b3_b.jpg

3/25/2017 8:49:13 AM

Upa Creek, MO

Very important. The root system is massive and to see this, lay a brick between or a few feet outside an established plant for a week. Lift up the brick and you'll see a complex mass of small white roots. The brick just brings them to the surface, but now you'll see that if you till every time you walk, you'll be tearing up the mass of fine roots.

I really like the rough Cedar fencing board from Lowes (1"x6"6') and sometimes use 3 bricks under each board to minimize disturbance. Although, if you lift the boards you'll see roots underneath thriving without the bricks.

3/25/2017 9:07:58 AM

Hadley Ny

I think the size of the board depends on your weight. I'd probably splinter a 1x6 if elevated or sink it into the ground if it lay on dirt. Boards are important..I've gotten into some roots I didn't think were there.

3/25/2017 9:40:08 AM

Central Illinois

Boards boards and more freak'n boards

3/25/2017 11:21:36 AM

Syracuse, NY

the wider a walking board is, the more widely distributed your weight will be upon the soil in which the roots are that you are trying to keep from crushing; therefore, a board wide enough to fit between the vines and as long as possible while still being able to me moved and managed would be ideal; a walking board that is narrower than 16 inches wide (derived by getting 6 16" X 48" pieces from a 4' X 8' sheet of 5/8-inch plywood) is inadequate and leaning a little toward not having a board there at all. if we were to determine the layout of a plant before it grows into place, though, to 'install' let's say 1' spikes of 2" x 4" and put narrower boards on top of them appropriately wide for walking on, well, that'd be quite an accomplishment, as is the "Bubba elevated plank system" mentioned above.

3/25/2017 5:01:28 PM

Kaukauna, Wisconsin

Plywood works best. I did some dumpster diving and got some.

3/25/2017 5:54:57 PM

Upa Creek, MO

I have to go narrow here, I guess it depends on climate. It is much hotter and more humid than the northeast and disease pressure from humidity and wet soil is always a concern. Constant aeration is a must.

3/25/2017 6:28:53 PM

stoughton WI

4x6 about 1ft long attach to 2x10. Place 1 about every 4ft. Walking boards will stay above the dirt. Minimal compaction.

3/25/2017 6:56:42 PM

Gays Mills, Wisconsin

2' x 12'+ insulated garage door panels are my main walkways, then short wide boards

3/25/2017 10:06:01 PM

Walhalla, ND.

I use a concoction of all the above, plywood cut down in1 Ft strips , 2X, garage door panels. Whatever I can get my hands on. The town dump 5 miles is my lumber yard. I even get my garden hoses from there. It's amazing what people will throw away.

3/25/2017 11:37:35 PM

Central Illinois

I have been laying mine directly on the ground but the ones between vines are removed when not in use, is this what others do.

3/26/2017 11:01:08 AM

Rapid City, SD

2 words......patch shoes

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=208902

3/26/2017 12:36:43 PM

Anamosa, IA [email protected]

I used walking boards a few years ago, and the creek flooded and scattered them all over. Now I just use boards in high traffic areas near the stump. I'm starting to use more mulch to eliminate weeding traffic after I nip off secondaries and culls and bury vines. If I miss something I tape a sharp knife to a PVC pipe so I can reach in without walking too close. I loosen up foot tracks with a cultivator, and I have drainage ditches in the patch that are used for paths. Its not ideal, but its what I have to live with.

3/26/2017 1:59:59 PM

Muddy Waters

Henry the moving & removing the boards is hard on the soil & you might bump a stalk once in a while. I lay main runways I leave them for the season.Then use pop crates or snow shoes to move around where needed. The roots you break anywhere you step directly will be a step backwards on our root system. No tilling anywhere inside the plants root zone.Which is the entire visible plant & beyond

3/28/2017 6:43:11 AM

JACKSON, WISCONSIN. ; )

Plywood or osb works fine... ever lift up a pcs in my patch and plenty of roots under them even with traffics I cut mine to 16 inches wide by about 36 inches long I use them for a year or two then burn them.. wood can harbor disease so I use new the first year if they look funky I burn them.... plywood is cheap when you dumpster dive or if you order 10 extra sheets for a job and somehow they never make it to the job......my aunt uses big planks... like old barn boards from her old barn

3/28/2017 11:06:55 AM