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Weeds can also host pests and diseases that can spread to cultivated crops. Charlock and Shepherd’s purse may carry club root, eelworm can be harbored by chickweed, fat hen and shepherd’s purse, while the cucumber mosaic virus, which can devastate the cucurbit family, is carried by a range of different weeds including chickweed and groundsel.
However, at times the role of weeds in this respect can be over-rated. As far as insect pests are concerned, often the species that live on weeds are not the same as those that attack vegetable crops; “Tests with the common cruciferous weeds such as shepherd’s purse have shown that they do not act as hosts for the larvae of the cabbage root fly. One exception was found to be the wild radish, but this is not usually a weed of established vegetable gardens”. However pests such as cutworms may first attack weeds then move on to cultivated crops.
While charlock, a common weed in southeastern USA, may be considered a weed by row crop growers, it is highly valued by beekeepers, who seek out places where it blooms all winter, thus providing pollen for honeybees and other pollinators. Its bloom is resistant to all but a very hard freeze, and even that will only kill it back briefly. By feeding an array of pollinators during a seasonal dearth, it can redound to the farmer’s advantage. Many weeds are likewise highly beneficial to pollinators.
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