Can Poison Ivy be killed without harmful chemicals like Roundup? Is there a safer chemical to use?
-- Bertie Brink Life is a sexually transmitted disease. R. D. Laing
Um. So, you want to kill thing A with thing B, but you don't want thing B to be "harmful"? I think you'd better rephrase your question.... did you mean: harmful to my lawn / flowers ? harmful to nearby trees and bushes? harmful to fish in a nearby stream? harmful to yourself / family / children ?
As far as environmental concerns, it is my (not very informed) understanding that Roundup is among the less environmentally damaging chemicals, because it breaks down fairly quickly. I could be wrong... and there are always other ways to kill poison ivy.
-Kevin
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Not easily if there's anything more than just an isolated plant or two--it roots very deeply and isn't much fazed by any mechanical operation.
Roundup isn't all _that_ hazardous w/ simple attention to proper preparation and application (unless you're meaning vegetation, not you). It is, of course, non-selective and will take out almost anything you get it on so if that's the problem, there are safer chemicals in that sense--tryclopor (Ortho Brush-B-Gone) or a mixture of
2,4-D and tryclopor (Crossbow is one trade name) are broadleaf-selective herbicide that are effective on woody plants. Poison ivy is tough to kill so may take several treatments particularly if have heavy infestation and live in an area w/ adequate moisture.Small infestations can be handled by cutting the vine and painting the woody stems w/ Roundup, but that's tough for more than just a few plants. Some claim you can cut it down and smother it w/ plastic or similar--I suppose it might be possible but sounds like far more work than it would be worth to me.
Round Up isn't all that terrible on the "environment." You can keep it localized by using two gloves: rubber dish gloves to keep the Round Up off your skin and cheap cotton glove over the rubber gloves. The latter acts as a sponge -- you dip your fingers into the Round Up, hold a specific plant and wipe it with the liquid.
You can put on gloves and pull it out.
In article , snipped-for-privacy@donotspammailme.com says... :) Can Poison Ivy be killed without harmful chemicals like Roundup? :) Is there a safer chemical to use? :) :) :) -- :) Bertie Brink :) Life is a sexually transmitted disease. R. D. Laing :)
much either, mixed the 2 together and poision ivy DEAD:)
tried all the mechanical means and all i got was itchy and actually really ill after steroids
i am highly allergic
DONT EVEN THINK OF BURNING POISION IVY IT WILL GIVE YOU LUNG TROUBLES and can be life threatening
According to m Ransley :
And the roots break off and restart.
PI removal by mechanical means is very difficult.
A professional botanist once said that the very most effective and still safe method is to make up a roundup solution of the appropriate strength, add a few drops of dishwashing soap. Then, put on rubber gloves with a cotton gloves overtop (as per the previous poster). Then dip the gloves in the solution and run the plant thru your hand.
Pinpoint control of application, and it nukes the roots.
She's had to deal with poison ivy where the stems were up to the thickness of her wrist (thank heavens it doesn't get that big up here!), and I think she knows what she's talking about.
Glysophate (roundup active ingredient) is one of the most thoroughly tested chemicals ever, and it's considered completely non-toxic to anything but plants. The additives that commerical suppliers add may not be quite that non-toxic, but they're certainly not the hazard that one might expect.
You should have seen what roundup replaced - anhydrous ammonia and similar _nasties_ that ordinary citizens weren't allowed to use.
What's your beef with RoundUp? It's probably the safest, most environmentally friendly herbicide on the planet. It biodegrades the moment it touches the soil. It's easy to mix and use, it doesn't stink, and it works. Every product should work so well.
I have killed HUNDREDS of square feet of dense poison ivy infestations with RoundUp. It usually takes 2 or 3 seasons to completely wipe it out so that no new sprouts ever appear again.
I've also killed poison ivy with vines the size of a human ankle, climbing up to 50 feet high on mature trees. In summer I spray what I can reach and let RoundUp weaken the vine. Then in winter, I chop through the vine to cut off its food supply. If anything sprouts from the vine the next spring I hose it down with RoundUp again, and that's usually the end of it.
Chris Lewis wrote: ...
I don't know where you got the idea that anhydros ammonia was widely used as a herbicide--it is (as in still widely used) a source of N as a fertilizer and certainly Roundup (and generics) are definitely _not_ a replacement for anhydrous.
As for other restricted herbicides, there are a few that have been removed, but not nearly as many herbicides as insecticides. The prime reason for glyphosphate becoming so popular is cost and the ability to have bred tolerant crops--hence, "Roundup ready" soybeans, for example.
What unsafe about RoundUp? I've heard someone using household bleach spray, but isn't spraying bleach is a bit risky? I use RoundUp on very young poison ivy plants--that way they are eliminated easily with very little RoundUp. For established plants (which I have very few) I have a friend pull it out by the roots--he's immune to the poison.
The story I heard was that roundup was originally a rust/corrosion preventative. They used to spray it on metal bridges and they noticed the vegetation in the spray area was dying. So they repackaged it as a herbicide and their sales skyrocketed.
Bob
You can only pull it after good rain or wet the soil, or yes the plant breaks off.
Roundup is one of the safest chemicals on the market..... It works by causing the plant to "grow itself to death". I run a farm, and use it around livestock. I dont spray it on stuff they might eat, although it claims this can be done. I do feel it's the safest product made.
What's harmful about roundup?
Roundup is very safe as otehrs have pointed out, but it's not very effective against poison ivy: round up is fomulated to break down rapidly in the soil, which is where loads of poison ivy sits. You're going to need to really round up for yearts to really kill the stuff off.
The best bet is to wait for a good rain and mechaincally pull the stuff by hand. Ideally it'll actually be raining while you're doing this, but right after a good soak will do. The water minimizes the amount of oils on the plants that you're going to come into contact with and softens up the ground so that you can pull up the actuall vines which are often just below the surface and go on for a suprisingly long way.
Dose up on the poison ivy blockers, wear disposable gloves and full length clothing, double bag everything you pull, then proced deirectly to the clothes washer, strip and put everything in to be washed, then procede directly to the shower and wash up with plenty of water and a poison ivy removing soap.
This gets the whole thing cleared in one go.
John
I've found Round-up to be only moderately effective. However a mix of round-up and crossbow works very well.
As for plain old rubber gloves. Don't believe it. Use Nitrile gloves when handling any toxins. Unless, of course, you are like me and don't use any.
Round up is not harmful because it rapidly decomposes to harmless materials.
I've killed lots of posion ivy over the years with Roundup and it works just fine. At the most, I've made two applications by just spraying it on. The first whacks about 90% of it. A month or two later another application gets the rest of it.
The fact that Roundup breaks down in the soil is irrelevant. It works by being absorbed by plant leaves that are above ground and killing the whole plant, roots and all.
If Roundup doesn't work, it's because people don;t know what they are doing. For example, many people have no clue what concentration they are even using. I see people post "I use 1 oz Roundup in a gallon of water", or "I use it full strength." Roundup and generic glyphosate comes in a wide variety of concentrations. Unless you specify what the actual concentration as applied is, it's meaningless.
One hell of a lot of risky work if it's in an area that can be safely sprayed without the overspray harming desirable vegetation. Even if you don't want to use Roundup, there are other herbicides that are effective and very easy to apply.
So does 5 mins with a quart of 5% Roundup.
Bob wrote: ...
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No idea where you must have heard that, either, but you might have checked the Monsanto site for some background info before passing it on...
"Storage ... Incompatible materials for storage: galvanized steel, unlined mild steel, ..."
Not exactly a high recommendation for a topical treatment for steel...
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