Safe weed killer?

[KenK]

Anyone know of a weed killer safe for animals, like my outside cats? I read that Roundup is very dangerous.

Suggestions?

TIA

[hubops]

I just sprayed my gravel driveway yesterday - with TotalEX

it seems a lot like this RoundUp

wait until dry - before having your pets and children roll around on the ground... my experience was that it took about 5 minutes to dry. Exactly how safe do you really need ? Exactly how dangerous do you think RoundUp is ? John T.

[Stormin' Norman]

Glyphosate (RoundUp and others) is reportedly safe for pets as long as you keep the pets away from the treated area until the product has dried completely.

It has never caused any problems with any of our pets and we use a lot of glyphosate every year and we have a lot of critters.

[notbob]

That's pretty much the $64,000 dollar question, isn't it.

The offending chemical is called glyphosate (GLY-fo-sate) and both sides have their lies all ready. ;)

nb

[hubops]

Yep. I just know that I can buy RoundUp almost anywhere but Kill-Ex has been banned for homeowners since ~ 2009 here in Ontario. John T.

[Ralph Mowery]

Do you want just weed killer, or something that will kill everything ? Roundup gets everything. Some weed killers only kill secific weeds or plants.

While not too effective and usually requires more than one application, here is something you can try that will be sve for the animals. Just Viniger and salt with a dash of soap. It gets most everything.

[philo]

Because I also have cats and there is a chance small children could be exposed, I stopped using weed killer more than 25 years ago.

I found that if I wear good gloves and go out after a good rain I have been able to pull most of them out roots and all.

After the first year of doing that 80% of them were gone and by the end of the second year 98% were gone.

Now it's a very simple matter for me to do the weeding.

That said, if your yard is several acres, the hand-pull method may be impractical.

[T]

Hi Ken,

I use white vinegar. Walmart had the gallon size for cheap. Do it with a lot of daylight for best result. It hardly works at all if it gets dark soon afterwards.

Some folks like to mix 1/4 of dish soap to a gallon, but I got lazy and found that straight works best.

Sometimes you have to treat twice.

And dandelions, several times. But it does eventually get them.

Plus you have to experiment on how much to use. They need a good dousing.

And don't forget that weeds a great collectors of the Sun's energy and nutrients from the ground. Dig them under and/or compose them. (I am afraid to dig dandelions under.)

Death to Weeds!

-T

[clare]

L Bow Grease

[hubops]

I have been using that for about 20 years on my gravel driveway weeds - finally broke down and tried some spray - hope it works. I expect to spray it again in a few weeks to get all the new growth and any that I missed. .. I'm not after perfection but it was becoming an eyesore .. John T.

[gregz]

They spray Roundup before they plant GMO plants, roundup ready, then hit them again befor harvest. It's in all GMO plants, and in most of your food. Originally for pipe cleaning, but actually binds metals.

Greg

[gregz]

Under the Roundup label, they also make specific weed only killers.

Greg

[Cindy Hamilton]

Something like this:

Cindy Hamilton

[clare]

Get yout facts straight. "roundup ready" is NOT part of ALL GMO foods. Not by a long shot.Some are resistant to certain fungus, some just last longer on the shelf, some don't bruise as rasily in transit. Some are resistant to specific pests. Some just ripen earlier, or have stronfer stalks.

[trader_4]

+1

I'd also like to see the references for the claim that glyphosate was originally developed for pipe cleaning. It's not caustic, I doubt it has any of the qualities for a pipe cleaner.

[trader_4]

+1

We went through that about a month ago. Roundup is a brand, under which they now sell everything from the glyphosate based product, to extended effect product that lasts for months, to a product that kills broadleaf weeds on turf. So, you have to be careful when saying Roundup or buying it, but it generally is used to refer to the glyphosate product.

[hubops]

this reference perhaps ?

developed as a chelator

John T.

[Frank]

I'm a retired chemist and chemophobia bugs me. You must treat chemicals with respect and caution but don't go nuts about it. Everyone knows that toxicity is dose related and with today's analytical tests it can be possible to find thinks at parts per trillion.

I had a Canadian government official tell me ones at a luncheon that if his glass of water had one molecule of a chlorinated compound in it he would not want to drink it. I wonder if he ever heard of Avogadro's number and understood the significance.

[T]

Chuckle!

Disclaimer, does not work on dandelions. They keep growing back and back and back and back ...

You have to dig up the entire root. Or bath them in vinegar three or so times.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Well, yeah. You do have to get the whole root.

I find dandelions much easier to deal with than the black walnut trees that the squirrels plant.

Cindy Hamilton