DIY Weed Killer (Effective Stuff)

In article , ARWadworth writes

That's a surprise, thanks for the info.

BTW, was it a feud or a favour?

Reply to
fred
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Feud.

It took a couple of months for the trees to turn start turning brown. They conifers were finally dead in six months.

Adam

Reply to
ARWadworth

In article , ARWadworth writes

Ah, best not to know the full story I'm sure

Useful info again, ta

Reply to
fred

After previous reports from Adam's road, perhaps not :-)

Reply to
Andy Burns

Yes, but this strategy isnt really effective. Every gardener knows that cutting weeds down, pulling them up, tilling them etc is an ongoing frequent chore that never wins.

All flame throwers have high flame temps fwiw, flames are hot, but that alone still doesnt make them effective. It seems plants are remarkably resilient to partial boiling.

Yes! My experiments with cement were remarkably effective, but I'm sure something would have called it home at some point. Maybe altered pH has some effect too. Cement is actually used as a fertiliser sometimes, as it contains some minerals, so perhaps there was some effect from the mineral imbalance caused as well.

Wood ash wipes out weeds too, simply because its so high in potash, but once it dilutes down after a few years the plants finally love the minerals.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

The one thing I found worked with the spreading root system types is cardboard. Its a long process, but wiped them out in the end. Now we have weed control fabric that would presumably look nicer.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

A neighbour of mine had a front garden makeover whereby you chuck some fabric down, pile some stone chippings on top, and then march up and down on it carrying bags of sand. The weeds are thriving and seem to like the damp soil underneath as well.

Reply to
stuart noble

One technique is a fairly rapid singe of the weed patch followed by a burn off several days later when the stems have dried out. Seriously smoky! Plants like Docks and Dandelions with energy reserves in their roots will not be killed anyway.

regards

Reply to
Tim Lamb

One suggestion culled from uk.business.agriculture is to add some wallpaper glue to a 3:1 mix of Glyphosate 360 and paint the leaves.

The point about Glyphosate is the translocated activity where the active chemical is carried to the roots before killing the plant. This takes time (up to 7 days) and the plant has to be actively growing for best effect.

regards

>
Reply to
Tim Lamb

A horsetail, the non-flowering ancient stuff that dinosaurs ate?

Improve your drainage and your probably clayey soil. Only time I ever meet this stuff is in Ireland, over on this side it's better drained and the stuff won't survive if you wanted it to.

You'll not harm it with glyphosate (i.e. Roundup) OTOH, glyphosate will kill Japanese knotweed, if you're patient and re-apply regularly.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Roundup already has this added.

Roundup is somewhat toxic to humans. Not because of the glyphosate, but because of this wetting agent.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember somebody saying something like:

RoundUp knock-offs are available for half the price - I assume the patent has run out on the original by now. 2.5L was 17Euros and 5L was

23Euros in my local farmers' store. Last summer I used a couple of hundred mls well diluted to treat a couple of hundred sq mtrs of scrubland and it killed everything. Grasses and broad-leaved weeds died back within a week, and the thorny scrub finally turned up its toes at the end of the autumn, presumably when the sap retreated for the winter and eventually killed the roots.

Only now are fresh weeds beginning to appear, so it didn't sterilise the soil, which I'm fairly happy about.

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon
[roundup]

It can't, it's not like sodium chlorate or simazine it is inactivated by adsorption onto clay particles in the soil.

BTW, Roundup is a Monsanto product so any of the others which call themselves Roundup (someone mentioned Bayer) are "knock off" or manufactured under licence. If you want a cheap(er) substitute specify "glyphosate" rather than roundup since that's the generic name for the active ingredient.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Roundup's patents aren't (all) for using glyphosphate, mostly they were about the combination with wetting agents - which AIUI was a bit more sophisticated than just adding a squirt of Fairy to the bucket. There may be knock-offs every bit as good, but merely containing glyphosate doesn't make something into a functional clone of Roundup.

Agreed about its inactivation in soils. Shame they don't mention that to people trying to use it as a long-term path clearer though.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Look out for a "weed wick" or "weed wiper". It's a T-shaped length of plastic pipe, with a candlewick rope stretched across the bar of the T. Fill it with glyphosate, wipe it across the leaves. Very accurate placement control, no bending down and less dribbling than a paintbrush.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

150 new 50 eBay (I've two to sell) 5 quid at a car boot.

They're excellent on nettles and brambles. Not so good on anything low- lying, like dandelions. If you're working at ground level, go for a butane torch instead. They're also good at clearing old couch grass, but won't stop it re-growing next year (glyphosate will do it in about two seasons)

Torches _will_ kill dandelions, just not in one blast. Flame the leaves as they re-appear and starve them out.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

2 of 'em ? That's a bit greedy, Are they GWO?

That's exactly the thing I said to my good lady. She said "I'm not wondering car boot sales for the next 5 years looking for a weed thing to save a few quid"

:¬)

Normally I wouldn't worry, but as I have at least 4 or 6" paraffin in the bottom of a great big tank then I may as well find something to burn it in that isn't my Landrover. :¬)

Cheers Pete

Reply to
Pet - www.GymRatZ.co.uk

Will have a scout around.

Thanks Andy.

Pete

Reply to
Pet - www.GymRatZ.co.uk

I've got 3 of them, I only need one.

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was going to sell the things last year, but was rained off! Not much market to gardeners who are underwater.

I'm not selling them on eBay right now. I _really_ don't have the time to faff about with it, also their enforced use of Paypal means that it's now cheaper to throw stuff away or freecycle it than to mess about with eBay.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Does it burn up to a proper "hot" blue flame ? presumably they can be fully pressurised?

Wher abouts are you Andy? I would expect it would have to be a collection only job which might make further enquiries a bit pointless.

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look at your weeds!!!! :¬)

Pete down near Bristol way

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www.GymRatZ.co.uk

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