Be careful with that Round-Up pump sprayer!
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
13 years ago
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years agogardningrandma
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Woe is Me, I Should Have Used RoundUp
Comments (43)Hi tomacco, Many of the people that object to its use provided references . I posted one that shows actual results that are counter to conventional wisdom. Wrong once means one can be wrong twice. I also doubt most of the people that use pesticides or herbicides even know what it is. Its easy to wipe out weeds. Just weed cloth it for a while. I even look forward to finding some weeds since they are great green manure and ferilizers. http://purecajunsunshine.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-make-free-fertilizer-from-weeds.html Everything is a chemical thus its absurd to lump together all chemicals as bad. Plants produce chemical defenses like alkaloids. What is stupid is mono culture and cultural practices that rely on a single measure and the quick kill. Even if round up were non-toxic it would simply breed weeds that will develop immunity to it and simply waste the resource. The best chemicals are the ones produced by plants that always gravitate toward suppression. I don't mind using pyrethins judiciously because it is something that follows this pattern where it knocks down and suppresses without killing and altering the attacking species. It is also a naturally occurring chemical that does break down in sunlight. Quick break down is essential to prevent dilution and attenuated exposure to build resistance.Thats probably why nature made it that way. We have one person with a spray bottle so we can have buildings full of lawyers and accountants doing nothing. They were spraying DDT around as if there was no consequence, same with agent orange. We have seen this attitude before of spray and pray and it nearly killed off the national symbol. Newer research does not look so good to me. . http://www.i-sis.org.uk/DMPGR.php http://www.sott.net/articles/show/180255-Death-by-Multiple-Poisoning-Glyphosate-and-Roundup...See MorePlease explain something about GMO, RoundUp etc to this lurker.
Comments (52)""Decreasing competition from weeds (nutrients, moisture or sunlight) increases crop yields everything else being equal. RR plants allow a producer to control a broad spectrum of weeds with a single pass thus decreasing input costs, increasing profits and making the farm more efficient. This is basic agriculture 101 that a twelve year old farm kid learns." " Some weeds like Dandelion, Yellow Dock, ragweed, etc., etc., tap into minerals and water reservoirs to bring nutrients to the top to other vegetables and killing them is dumb anyways. Poison the ground for something you need anyways is what you'll be doing and spending tons to give the plants alternatives to what these companion plants have to give. They did a study where planting corn with one type of weed, can't remember which one maybe ragweed, made the corn grow better without need of as much fertilizers, but of course some of the room to plant will be taken over by the weeds. You have to give to receive, so in an organic garden, you get a little more of everything, but not great amounts per acre of one thing unless you have stacked raised beds like the pyramid type of beds that go up to 5 levels high making the most out of a small space. It's the only guarantee. Weeds are not necessarily a good thing, but if they attract beneficial insects, which is the only cure for some types of bug infestations resistant, like the squash vine borer or others like it, you will use more space planting the plant that helps attract the beneficials and get less yields, but better than no yields from the infestation....See MoreRound up tank sprayer?
Comments (5)Spray with a cheap 3-gallon hand sprayer. There is no need to spray with Roundup(r). What you want is any herbicide with "glyphosate." Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup(r) and it's no longer protected by patent. Any company can make the stuff, and many do -- at prices much cheaper than Roundup(r). But the problem is getting the glyphosate into the plant. That takes a surfactant, some soap-like chemical that gets the glyphosate across the waxy surface of the plant. Go to a farm supply store where there are usually several kinds of glphosate herbicide for sale (including classic Roundup(r). Buy the cheap stuff (make sure the active ingredient is only glyphosate -- no 2,4-d or other herbicides). Then, when you mix the stuff with water for your sprayer, include a good squirt of Dawn dishwashing detergent. That is a really good surfactant. And you also can ad a single scoop/gallon of regular Miracle Grow fertilizer. This causes the plant to suck up the glyphosate. Remember, glyphosate works only on growing, green plants, so don't spray until your area has a bunch of weeds starting to grow. Then wait until the second round a month later and spray again. If you can, it's helpful to till or roto-till the top 2-inches two or three times during the growing season. This will expose more weed seeds to light and cause them to germinate, where upon you will zap them with another mist of the glyphosate/Dawn/Miracle Grow mixture. After a season of this, you will have a site with very few weeds, ready for a Nov or Dec frost seeding. But as I've stated on this board many times, don't plant just "wildflowers' (properly called "forbs"). You'd better include some grasses, or the weeds will eventually come right back and you'll have in three or four years a weed patch again. Forbs require grasses to hold them up and keep out things like Canada thistle and host of other badies that easily grow between individual flower plants. No meadow is only forbs. That's a garden. Meadows have mostly grasses, and you need to add them. I prefer the planting of little bluestem as the grass. It has many advantages for what you envision (but too detailed to go into here)....See MoreWeeds are Round Up Resistant, HELP
Comments (4)To be successful with herbicides, one must follow directions. Round-up resistance isn't yet in home gardens. If your weeds are annuals, they should die when treated. You'll have the best results if the plants are in good condition and growing well when you apply the herbicide. If the weeds are perennials, one must continue to treat -- cut off; pull off; dig out; or herbicide at the right time) every time they reappear. Again, you'll have best results when the plants are in good condition and growing well when you apply the herbicide. The goal is to starve the roots. Dealing w/ perennials weeds will be a several-years-long project. Systemic weed killers can burn plants when mixed stronger than the label advises, thus won't go to the roots....See MoreToronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
13 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years agorhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years agogardningrandma
13 years agoToronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
13 years agogardningrandma
13 years agolou_spicewood_tx
13 years agoprotorich_gmail_com
13 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years agoToronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
13 years ago
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