John,

I thought that Roundup already had a surfactant included, but then I'm
no expert (as my wife & in-laws frequently remind me). I spoke with
a very knowledgeable Scotts/Ortho employee in Marysville, Ohio early
this summer and after the conversation I felt that adding a surfactant
really wasn't necessary.

From our experiences using Roundup on various types of ivy, the big issue
is how long the Roundup gets to stay on the foliage before any watering or
rain occurs. The package states that the product will kill after just 1 hour
of contact, but I'm certain that maximum efficacy is attain after several days
without rain. It is extremely important to get the maximum amount of the
product down into the root zone.

Personally, I prefer to spend my money on higher concentrations of Roundup
or on additional applications.

My son has killed ivy for 3 customers in the past 2 weeks. Typical Ortho
recommendations for Roundup concentrations vary from 0.5% to 2%. We
use 4% and we reapply 3 days later for English ivy, poison ivy and other
woody plants. The lower concentrations and single applications work
great for grasses and such, but the woody plants need the extra dosage
in my opinion.

Good luck,
Gideon

=========

John McGaw wrote in message ...
I remember that someone mentioned mixing a surfactant with Roundup was
mandatory if it was to have any chance of working on English ivy. I've
been looking for a product that fits the bill but everything I've found
seems to come only in huge agricultural-sized containers. Have any of
you found something in more home garden-friendly size that works?

My online research suggests that these products are suitable for
enhancing the killing capacity of Roundup on difficult plants:

Cayuse Plus (surfactant + AMS)
Chaser (surfactant + 28% N)
Dispatch (surfactant + 28% N)
Patrol (surfactant + 28% N)

Any experience with them on English ivy?

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com