Gardeners have several options when it comes to controlling weeds in the vegetable garden. The oldest method of weed control comes with cultivation, either hand hoeing or through the use of a rototiller.
Cultivation works well for annual weeds such as crabgrass or purslane.
However, with perennial weeds, cultivation may initially create a larger problem. Cultivation breaks perennial weeds and their root systems into smaller pieces which grow into entire plants. Frequent cultivation is often needed to control perennial weeds. Be sure to remove as many weed parts as you can so the weeds are not allowed to reroot and grow. A second disadvantage of cultivation is that many vegetables have shallow root systems.