The weather is finally good enough for me to spray weeds at the side of the house and I have a spray container made with Roundup concentrate probably almost a year ago. Will this still kill the weeds? I know they say that it decomposes into some non-toxic form within two weeks of spraying, so I figure it isn't terribly stable. Does anyone know if it will still work? I used it, but don't want to have to wait a week or two to find out if it's a waste of time waiting. Thanks for any info.
Dan
Yes, it is still good (or still bad, depending on your political bent.)
Round-up is deactivated in the soil almost immediately when it does an ion-exchange with clay particles. It also decomposes in the soil. It doesn't decompose in the bottle or sprayer. HTH :-)
Bob
:Dan_Musicant wrote: :> The weather is finally good enough for me to spray weeds at the side of :> the house and I have a spray container made with Roundup concentrate :> probably almost a year ago. Will this still kill the weeds? I know they :> say that it decomposes into some non-toxic form within two weeks of :> spraying, so I figure it isn't terribly stable. Does anyone know if it :> will still work? I used it, but don't want to have to wait a week or two :> to find out if it's a waste of time waiting. Thanks for any info. :> :> Dan : : :Yes, it is still good (or still bad, depending on your political bent.) : :Round-up is deactivated in the soil almost immediately when it does an :ion-exchange with clay particles. It also decomposes in the soil. It :doesn't decompose in the bottle or sprayer. HTH :-) : :Bob
Thanks Bob. Yes that helps plenty. Since we have heavily clay soil here I suppose the Round-up will decompose quickly. Since you mention politics, I wonder about the political aspect. I suppose I can do a Google Groups search on roundup and come up with some threads where I can see that discussed. Or maybe you or others can link me to significant information. If there's a significant downside to using this stuff I'd like to know about it. Thanks again.
Dan
Ether Jones Round-up is deactivated in the soil almost immediately whe
it does an ion-exchange with clay particles. It also decomposes in the soil. It doesn't decompose in the bottle or sprayer.
A follow-up question if I may. Does it matter what kind of water you use to mix with the Round-Up? I use well water. My well has som iron as well as other minerals I suppose. Do these impurities tend to deactivate the Round-Up?
The reason I ask is, everybody I talk to seems to have better luc with Round-Up than I do. They say the weeds are dead in a week. When I use it, it takes up to three weeks to see any difference at all; and sometimes I have to re-apply.
I'm not skimping on the mixture. I even tried tripling the amount.
I'm using it on weeds in my gravel driveway and between patio bricks. Also on my trail in the woods to clear underground on and around the trail.
A farmer friend even gave me a gallon of the commercial-grade stuff he uses, and it didn't work any better.
I suppose the next step would be to try mixing with distilled water. Haven't had the time to mess with that yet.
the kind of water that u use doesnt really make much of a difference w have rust in our water here on the farm and my hubby uses it for tan mixing of roundup. i think the thing thats most important is to mak sure that u get a good even coverage on the weeds that u want to ge rid of. some weeds do need an extra application of roundup especially if the have some herbicide tolerance or if u are trying to clear a reall weedy area. roundup is a contact herbicide which means that it kills off whateve it hits, it is also non systemic which means that it does not stay i the soil but breaks down quickly as has been mentioned ;). hope thi helps u some. cyaaaa sockiescat
-- sockiescat
The Round Up instructions at
To get rid of poison ivy, is there anything "better" than Round-Up?
By "better", I mean any of the following:
- less expensive (price per hundred square feet of weeds killed), or
- quicker (don't have to wait three weeks for weeds to die, or
- more effective (one spray does the trick; no need to re-apply)
Or is Round-Up the best available herbicide?
I am putting a half-mile-long trail in my woods, and I need to kill all the undergrowth on and around the trail so people can walk comfortably.
How much of it can you clear mechanically with a slingblade or a brush hawg or a straight-shaft string cutter with a metal blade attachment?
Here's the herbicides that I know of. I'm sure there are lots more:
Round-up is probably the least toxic to people and the environment, but other than that it's the most expensive and least effective choice.
"Ammate X" (ammonium sulfamate, IIRC) is what we used to a long time ago the kill poison ivy. I think it's still available, I just haven't seen it in a long, probably because it's so "old fashioned".
"Garlon 3A" or "Garlon 4E" is what the Forest Service uses to control woody weeds, like buckthorn. Three is water based and 4 is oil based, but they are essentially the same chemical, triclopyr. You can also buy the same active ingredient from Ortho -- "Brush B Gon".
2,4-d is the cheapest solution. I use it very sparingly to spot-treat dandelions and weed tree seedlings. The lawncare companies use tons of it all over the neighborhood and they scare me.Paraquat is cheap and effective and fast, but it's way too dangerous to handle -- but at least it's quickly biodegradable like Round-up. Don't use it, you'll kill yourself with it.
Best regards, Bob
I tried replacing the string head on my weed whacker with a blade assembly, but it was like a toy against the large brush in the woods.
The most effective tool I have found is a simple grass whip, with serrated blade. It's easy to sharpen using the edge of my bench grinder wheel. One good golf swing takes down 3/4" diameter woody brush.
I have a 30" walk-behind self-propelled brush mower with a 17HP Kaw engine, but I won't be using that "blind" in the woods. I don't want to damage it by hitting stones and stumps and roots and logs.
The problem with mechanical removal is that it doesn't kill the roots. And I don't want to be whacking poison ivy.
Thanks for the chemical suggestions. I use 2,4D in a hand-help pump sprayer to spot treat dandelions in my lawn (approx 2 acres)*, but I never realized it would be better than Round-Up on poison ivy and other undergrowth in the woods. I will give it a try.
I'll also try the triclopyr. Maybe do 2 test patches, one with 2,4D and one with triclopyr to see which works best.
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