What Is a Stale Seedbed? How to Eliminate Weeds Before You Plant
By Jonathan Dysinger and John Dysinger
Updated on
Show Transcript
0:00[Music]
0:00Learning how to deal with weeds is something that everybody trying to grow really anything, even if it's just landscape beds in front of your house,
0:08you got to learn how to deal with weeds.
0:10And so, that is something that comes up over and over again as we're interacting, rubbing shoulders with, and and hearing questions from our
0:17customers. And so, we want to talk about weeds a little bit. Specifically, right now, we're going to talk about how to prep uh a new field plot essentially to
0:26create that to kind of get rid of the the initial, you know, just massive grass and weeds that that you have if
0:35you're prepping a new field area and trying to get ready to grow crops. So,
0:40we would call it like a stale stale seedbed. Well, the stale seed bed is actually a technique for getting rid of
0:48weeds. And basically the way it works is once you once you initially work up your
0:56beds, however you're doing that, um you know, you you're basically preparing your beds as if you were going to plant
1:05in them. So you put down your amendments and all of that, but then rather than
1:12planting, you just water it as if it's planted, but then let it sit. And
1:19basically what you're really doing is just encouraging the weeds to grow. And so after a week or so, there should be
1:29lots of tiny little weed seeds coming up.
1:34And one way to deal with that is just with something like a simple colinear hoe where you
1:42just your goal is to disturb the soil as little as possible. So you're just
1:49running that colinear hole just very lightly over the surface of the bed and dispatching all those new weed seeds.
2:00And then if you have time, ideally you would make sure those have died. You know, ideally do it on a sunny day um
2:09when the soil is dry and they'll die very quickly, but then rewater
2:17it and wait for a second flush of weeds to come up and do the same thing. Mhm.
2:23So that's that's the classic way of stale seed bedding. So you're you're just doing your best not to disturb the soil to bring up any more weed seeds.
2:34But then just dispatching those. And my estimate is if you were to do that twice
2:41like I just described, you would get rid of 80% of your weeds Mhm. before you
2:48ever have plants in the ground. So So yeah, let's just say you're just going and tilling up a brand new area. this
2:57coming in a week later, this is probably not going to work though because you have so much, you know, biomass, root mass, and everything from all the weeds
3:05that you just tilled in, right? Yeah. If if the ground is really clumpy or, you know, just lots of weeds, yeah, this
3:14isn't going to work in that case. Um, I think the silage tarp is is by far the
3:21best solution. In fact, I was going to describe how you can use the silage tarp for making a stale
3:29seedbed. Basically, you do like I already described where you water the soil and encourage the weeds to germinate. And once they've germinated,
3:41rather than using like a a colinear hoe to to dispatch the weeds, you just cover
3:48it with the silage tarp. Mhm. And if the weather's hot, if it's sunny and warm,
3:55those weeds are going to die very quickly, you know, just a few days. So once you've killed that first batch of
4:03weeds, take the silage tarp off, make sure the soil's moist again, see if you can get another flush of weeds, and do
4:12that again. I mean, it's actually simpler and I think more effective than the colinear hoe. Yeah. Um, and if you
4:20have time on, you know, say you're you're a month or two out, you can always just lay down the silage tar, you
4:28know, wet water the area really well and then lay down the silage tarp and just leave it and then pull it back, you know, six or eight weeks later and you
4:36you have no weeds at all. Yeah. And if you've plowed or tilled and and you have
4:44those initial, you know, clumps of grass and everything, the silage tarp is definitely going to be the the easiest
4:52way to to deal with that. Just cover it and it'll break down quite quickly and then you'll be ready to go from there.
5:01But I I still remember I don't know if you remember um our first winter CSA in
5:092003. We planted a bed of carrots out here on on one of those 240 foot long beds. I I definitely remember that.
5:20And I mean it was like a lawn, you know,
5:25we planted the carrots and the grass just came up so profusely. It was literally just a lawn. And I think we
5:34spent two weeks. Of course, that's not full time, but but over the it took us two weeks to weed that bed by hand.
5:43Yeah. You know, you got to hold on to the carrot seed while you're trying to pull all the grass. I mean, not the carrot seed, but the carrot plant. Yeah.
5:52It was ridiculous. And then by the time we got to the end of the bed, we had to go back and start over again. It was just So, we've discouraging. We've been there. We know what it's like on new,
6:02you know, new beds. It can be overwhelming. Yeah. But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If
6:10you can deal with those weeds before you ever plant your carrots, you're going to be way ahead. Yep. Yep. Yeah. I saw this
6:18recently. one of the neighbors close to the shop just uh had a field that he just tilled up and then like the next day I see, you know, plants out there
6:26and I'm thinking, "Oh, he's going to just be fighting weeds all summer." Um,
6:31so yeah, think ahead, plan ahead, cover it with silage tarp. For those if you're not familiar with silage tarp, it's a a
6:38heavyduty 5 mil thick uh at least what we sell is 5 mil thick um plastic and it's UV treated. It's white on one side,
6:46black on the other. It's developed and used largely in the silage industry for for dairy cows, uh dairy cow food
6:55production essentially. But anyways, um it's a a UV treated very durable plastic and you can lay it down over your soil.
7:03soil loves to be covered and you'll just get it blocks all the sunlight so the weeds won't grow and they'll die out and
7:09then your earthworms and all that soil biology just loves that dark moist environment and it just breaks down
7:17under there and after a few weeks you'll pull it up and you'll be amazed at how prepared it is to to plant directly
7:25into. So that's why silage sharp has become so universally h I mean maybe not universally there's still some people
7:33that that try to steer away from using a lot of plastics but man it saves you so much so much time and work in bed prep
7:42and you know with it being a multi-year use product I mean we've used it for many years with it being UV stabilized
7:50if you take care of it it'll last a long time and then you can recycle it but it's uh it's a great product. It's the closest thing I tell people to no work
7:59bed preparation. I mean, there's there's no such thing as no work gardening, but
8:05um silage tarps make a huge contribution to to lessening that work. Yeah. Yeah.
8:13And you can lay the whole thing out or you can cut it in strips to cover individual beds. You can do a lot of different cool stuff with it. I know
8:21there's a lot of concerns about microlastics. Um, you know, from my observation, and again, I'm not a
8:29scientist, but I I think a lot of those microlastic concerns come from non non
8:37UVTreated plastics, which will break down very quickly.
8:42But with this UVT treated plastic, you know, after 6 or 8 years, it's going to
8:49start getting where it tears easily and stuff. And I think if you were to to get
8:56rid of it at that point, I don't think you're getting a lot of microlastics in your It's not
9:03breaking down. If you go if if you try to, you know, buy cheaper plastic. We've seen this. Uh, in fact, we've got reviews from customers on this like,
9:12"Oh, I didn't want to pay a couple hundred dollar, so I just went to Lowe's and bought a five mil plastic." It's not the same plastic. You know, the five mil
9:20black plastic that Lowe's sells is not going to have that. So, it it breaks down very quickly and then you will be getting plastic in your soil. So, steer
9:27away from that. But anyways, we've given a lot of different tips here. Hopefully, this is helpful for you guys watching.
9:33And, uh, if you have any questions, feel free to submit them. Otherwise, reach out to our customer service team if you have any questions about Farmers Friend
9:41products. And until next time, happy growing.
9:45[Music]
A stale seedbed is a weed prevention technique where you prepare your bed as if you're going to plant, water it to encourage weed seeds to germinate, and then kill those seedlings before you ever put crops in the ground. Two rounds of this process can eliminate roughly 80% of your weed pressure before planting. For new ground or heavy weed pressure, covering with a silage tarp is even more effective — it kills weeds, breaks down residue, and leaves the soil ready to plant with minimal effort.
If you've ever tilled up a new field, planted into it immediately, and then watched a lawn of weeds emerge right alongside your crops — you know the pain we're talking about. And if you haven't experienced it yet, trust us: you don't want to.
My dad, John Dysinger, has a vivid memory from 2003 that still stings. During their first winter CSA season at Bountiful Blessings Farm, they planted a 240-foot bed of carrots in new ground. The grass came up so thickly that the bed literally looked like a lawn. They spent two weeks weeding that single bed by hand — carefully holding onto each tiny carrot plant while pulling the grass around it — and by the time they reached the end, the beginning of the bed needed weeding again.
That experience drove home a lesson that's guided his weed management ever since: deal with the weeds before you plant, not after. An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure when it comes to your weed seed bank.
What Is a Stale Seedbed?
A stale seedbed is a bed preparation technique designed to flush and kill weed seeds before you plant your crop. Here's how it works:
Step 1: Prepare the bed as if you're going to plant. Work up the soil, add your amendments, rake it smooth — do everything you'd normally do right before seeding or transplanting.
Step 2: Water it as if it's planted, but don't plant. Keep the bed moist and let it sit for about a week. What you're doing is encouraging the weed seeds near the surface to germinate.
Step 3: Kill the flush of weed seedlings with minimal soil disturbance. After a week or so, you'll see a carpet of tiny weed seedlings emerging. Use a colinear hoe to lightly skim the soil surface — your goal is to dispatch those seedlings without disturbing the soil deeply enough to bring up a new layer of weed seeds from below.
Step 4: Repeat. Water again, wait for a second flush, and kill those too.
The key principle is disturbing the soil as little as possible during the killing step. You're only dealing with the seeds that were near the surface. If you chop deep or re-till, you'll just bring up more seeds and start the cycle over.
My dad estimates that two rounds of stale seedbed treatment will eliminate roughly 80% of your weed pressure before you ever put a crop in the ground. That's a dramatic head start.
Timing note: Do this on a sunny day when the soil is dry. The disrupted seedlings need to desiccate and die quickly. If it's wet and cloudy, they can re-root.
How Do You Use a Silage Tarp for Stale Seedbed Prep?
The colinear hoe method works well on beds that are already in good condition — smooth, relatively weed-free soil that you're refreshing between crops. But what about new ground? Freshly tilled soil full of grass clumps and root mass?
In that case, the colinear hoe isn't going to cut it. The surface is too rough and there's too much residue. That's where the silage tarp becomes the best tool in your arsenal.
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Method 1: Tarp-Assisted Stale Seedbed
This works exactly like the traditional stale seedbed, but you replace the hoe with the tarp:
Water the prepared bed to encourage weed germination. Once seedlings appear, cover the bed with a silage tarp (black side down). If the weather is warm and sunny, those seedlings will die in just a few days under the tarp. Pull the tarp, re-water, let a second flush germinate, and tarp again.
My dad actually finds this simpler and more effective than the colinear hoe approach. The tarp kills more thoroughly and doesn't risk disturbing the soil.
Method 2: Long-Term Tarp (New Ground Prep)
If you have time — say you're a month or two out from planting — the easiest approach is to water the area thoroughly, lay down the silage tarp, and just leave it for six to eight weeks.
When you pull it up, you'll have no weeds. The tarp blocks all sunlight, killing anything that tries to grow underneath. Meanwhile, the earthworms and soil biology thrive in that dark, moist environment — actively breaking down residue and improving soil structure while you're doing other things on the farm.
This is especially powerful for converting new ground. If you've just tilled up a field full of established grass and weeds, those clumps of root mass will break down surprisingly fast under a silage tarp. When you pull it up, the soil is loose, dark, and ready to plant directly into.
My dad calls silage tarp the closest thing to no-work bed preparation. There's no such thing as truly effortless gardening, but tarping comes as close as it gets.
Why You Shouldn't Plant Into Freshly Tilled New Ground
This is a mistake my dad sees regularly — and it's the same one he made with that 240-foot carrot bed in 2003.
The temptation is understandable: you till up a new area, the soil looks beautiful and clean, and you want to get something in the ground immediately. But below that clean surface, there are thousands of weed seeds waiting for moisture and light to germinate. They'll come up right alongside your crop, and once they're intertwined with your plants, your only option is slow, tedious hand-weeding.
My dad recently watched a neighbor till a field and plant into it the very next day. His immediate thought: "He's going to be fighting weeds all summer."
Take the extra week or two to do a stale seedbed. Or better yet, tarp it for six weeks before you need it. The time you invest in weed prevention now will save you many times that amount in weeding labor later.
What Makes a Good Silage Tarp?
Not all tarps are created equal, and this is a distinction worth understanding.
Quality silage tarp — like what Farmers Friend sells — is 5-mil thick, UV-stabilized, white on one side and black on the other. It's developed for the silage industry (dairy cow feed storage) and built to last for years of outdoor use.
The UV stabilization is critical. Without it, the plastic breaks down quickly in sunlight, becomes brittle, tears easily, and can introduce microplastic fragments into your soil. My dad has seen customers try to save money by buying generic 5-mil black plastic from Lowe's or similar stores — it's not the same product. Non-UV-treated plastic can deteriorate within a single season.
With proper UV-treated silage tarp, you can expect six to eight years of use before it starts getting fragile. At that point, you retire it and recycle it. In my dad's observation, UV-stabilized plastic that's properly maintained doesn't break down into the kind of microplastic fragments that non-treated plastic does — the material stays intact until it physically tears, rather than degrading at a molecular level.
You can use the full tarp to cover large areas, or cut it into strips to cover individual beds. It's one of the most versatile and cost-effective tools on a market farm.
The Takeaway
The cheapest and easiest weed you'll ever deal with is the one you kill before it gets established. Whether you use a stale seedbed with a colinear hoe, a tarp-assisted flush cycle, or a long-term tarp on new ground, the principle is the same: deal with your weed seed bank before your crop goes in.
If you're preparing new ground, give yourself time. Tarp it for six to eight weeks and let biology do the work. If you're turning beds between crops, do one or two stale seedbed cycles to knock out 80% of your weed pressure.
Your future self — the one who's not spending two weeks hand-weeding a single bed of carrots — will thank you.
Frequently Asked Questions
A stale seedbed is a weed prevention technique where you prepare and water a bed as if you're going to plant, wait for weed seeds to germinate, and then kill the seedlings before putting your crop in the ground. Two rounds can eliminate approximately 80% of weed pressure before you ever plant.
Prepare your bed fully (amendments, raking, smoothing), water it, and wait about a week for weed seeds to germinate. Then lightly skim the surface with a colinear hoe to kill the tiny seedlings without disturbing deeper soil. Repeat once more for best results. Alternatively, cover with a silage tarp instead of hoeing — it's simpler and more thorough.
Six to eight weeks is ideal for converting new ground. Water the area thoroughly before tarping. The tarp blocks sunlight, kills all weed growth, and creates conditions for earthworms and soil biology to break down grass clumps and root residue. When you pull it up, the soil is ready to plant into with minimal additional prep.
No. Generic black plastic from hardware stores is not UV-stabilized and will break down quickly in sunlight, potentially introducing microplastics into your soil. Quality silage tarp is 5-mil thick, UV-treated, and built to last six to eight years. The upfront cost is higher, but it's a multi-year investment that pays for itself many times over.
You can, but you don't have to. Tilling followed by tarping works well — the tarp breaks down the tilled residue quickly. You can also tarp directly over unmowed ground, though it will take longer for everything to break down. Either way, the tarp does the heavy lifting of killing the existing vegetation and weed seed bank.
Freshly tilled soil contains thousands of weed seeds near the surface, ready to germinate as soon as they get moisture and light. If you plant immediately, those weeds will emerge right alongside your crop and require extensive hand-weeding. Taking even one to two weeks for a stale seedbed treatment dramatically reduces this pressure.
The dark, moist environment under a silage tarp is ideal for earthworms and soil biology. While the tarp is killing weeds on the surface, the biology below is actively breaking down organic matter, improving soil structure, and cycling nutrients. Many farmers find that tarped soil is noticeably better to work with than soil prepared by other methods.
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