Nothing really. If you spray the day after rain its supposed to work faster as the weeds are sucking up the moisture.

I heard years ago that if you put Urea in the mixture that will works faster, dont know if its true though.

Failing that get a stronger solution than the normal Glyphosate 360 g/l it is made in 450g/l there is even one that is 500 , so bigger strength, bigger price. I am going to buy the stronger one next time as the clover in my road base driveway 4mts x 100mts has to be sprayed at the least four times to get rid of it, so its less work, less water, and I dont like using it but sometimes you have too, so it makes sense ...Cheers..MM.

MM, white clover has a lot of resistance to RU. You might be better off getting hold of 'Basta' which will stitch up the clover. Of course you can resort to MCPA or Dicamba if you like which are used to clean up clover in lawns.

The thirstier the plant, the more it will suck it up and die, so dry times and avoiding other watering helps. I tried it super strong once and they did die very fast indeed, but then new shoots came back nearby soon after. I told a chap at my local nursery, and he theorised that using it pure (or super strong) can kill the plant "too fast" - if that seems possible! Apparently if the plant has long runners etc, then it might not have time to spread through the whole thing. The piece you sprayed dies off, but shoots can still survive.

Depends on the class of weed I reckon. Cane farmers swear by the addition of urea (I'd use about a teas per hand sprayer of mix if I was doing a grass weed). I've seen Neville (?) on Gardening Australia recommending fertilising first. The mix for foliar spraying woody weeds like lantana is stronger, see the lable for more info.

A stronger mixture without reference to the species may be more likely to damage the leaves etc thus preventing effective translocation to the in-ground parts. A old farming friend who had zero tolerance to weeds used to say, A slow kill is a good kill.

With legumes in lawns, I like to play with some extra N to weaken them and allow the grass to be more competitive.
Rose

Depends on what weeds you are getting rid of, and what situation they are in. Sheet mulching is a far better solution than using poisons, if you are starting a new garden bed. If you are trying to remove weeds from garden beds (between plants) then hand weeding is the best solution to avoid killing plants.
Most environmentally sound gardening practices involve time, effort and patience.

Thanks Lomatia. I will look into that different brand for the clover...Cheers..MM.

Round up is more effective when plants are growing strongly as the poison circulates through the plant faster. If sprayed on actively growing plants, they should start to yellow off in a few days and be dead within a couple of weeks. If sprayed during slow growth periods ie winter, dry times, etc the plant can take up to a month to die.

It is recommended on woody type plants to cut back the plant and wait for it to re-sprout before spraying.

For faster kill rates, identify the weed and buy a specific poison for that weed.

If you don't have big areas to do you could pour boiling water on the weeds or check out some organic sites for non-poisonous methods.

I've also read about using undiluted vinegar, but it seems to work on certain kinds of weeds only. Boiling water kills very fast, but only feasible for small areas as mentioned by goldhills.

Please excuse me for stealing this thread - but since roundup is mentioned here, will spraying roundup on the stalk (or part of) or a plant kill it? I have weeds growing directly under my shrubs and plants (e.g. roses), so I'm wondering what to do about that.

mm, I find that salt water knocks clover on the head really quick, it seems to have a really low tolerance for salt

Thanks TG. I have tried if before but not on the clover, also tried the vinegar but is does something to the soil. I will give it a go seeing it is on the driveway, I am amazed that with no rain this terrible weed still pops up with 4-6 inches of road base underneath it.

Weeddummie. There is no way I would spray any where near my roses or any other shrubs for that matter, mine are all heavily mulched and no weed would dare pop up, thats where I would be pulling them by hand if they did appear.

Unless you can afford Fusilade and at anything between $105 -$136 from one litre and thats if you can get it in small quanties as I read on one of the forums many months ago that you could only get it in 5lt lots....MM.

Just backing up mistymorn re roses and roundup. It seems that the two just do not mix. There was a thread on the rose forum a few months ago discussing the effects of roundup translocating from the roots of the weeds to the roots of the roses if both lots of roots are intermingled. So on the stems would be a definite no-no.

A friend of mine suggested using a small paintbrush and applying the roundup from the brush.
I havent tried it myself but will give it a go. I bought the brush!
Michelle

And a common answer to a commonly asked question "Why did all my bearded irises turn white and are deformed?" "Because they copped roundup drift when you or your closest neighbour sprayed the weeds".

Here is something I recently experimented with, needing something easily on hand to paint small weeds starting to poke back through my new garden beds. Watercolour artists sometimes use a paintbrush which has a hollow plastic handle that you can fill with water. Squeeze the handle gently, and it pushes the water into the brush. Pop the plastic lid on, and it stores easily without spilling a drop. (Sorry, I tried to find a pic on the web but couldn't - I hope this description makes sense!)

So I bought one at the local art shop - was only a couple of dollars - and filled the handle with roundup instead of water. It is working really well. I carry it in my pocket whenever I work in the garden, and it is as simple as taking it out, pop off the lid, and paint the emerging weed. No bottles and brushes needed, no spillage, no waste, no overspray drifting onto other plants.

I'm pretty sure you can also pick these up at good newsagents. Just look around in the art section.

Sounds like a good idea!

femmeradsy, what a brilliant piece of gear. A scaled down version of the purpose built doofer (can't remember its name, I use it for painting lantana stumps.)

Yes femmersday
This is a more sofisticated version of my friends idea of a paint brush.
You run no risk of damaging other plants and have good control of the "dose"
Great idea.
I think I will get one.
Cheers
Michelle

I think the "doofer" you are thinking of would be the "Weed Wand" :-)

some plants like the Clovers have water resistant leaves. So when spraying Roundup or any selective weedkiller always put a squirt of dishwashing liquid in the spray mix. This will make the spray stick.
Ian

I do that Ian I even put a drop in the sprayer when I spray my roses with Triforine.
A very cheap and good wetting agent....MM.