Fat hen

Symptoms

Fat hen is a weed that will quickly spread and colonise any open ground, competing with your other plants for nutrients.
Find it on all over the garden
Time to act late-spring to autumn

Overview

Fat hen, Chenopodium album, is an annual weed loved by butterflies, and whose young leaves are delicious in salads or cooked like spinach. However, it will also quickly colonise open ground and spread through your garden if left unchecked - a single plant can produce 20,000 seeds in its short lifetime.
Solution
Fat hen is a weed that will quickly spread and colonise any open ground, competing with your other plants for nutrients.
Organic
Hand weed or hoe out seedlings as they appear, or smother them with a good layer of compost or mulch. Try to remove plants before they flower and seed to slow its spread.
Chemical
Use a total weedkiller, such as glyphosate. Avoid spraying on a windy day and near other desirable plants.


Discuss this problem

Talkback: Fat hen
Your comment will appear after a quick registration step