John McGaw wrote:

David Ross wrote:
John McGaw wrote:

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?


I use the same kind of liquid soap that my wife uses to wash
dishes. I add a large squirt to each mix of spray.

Note that, if you do this with Roundup, you must give the sprayer
at least one extra rinse with plain water before putting it away or
using it with any other spray.

I had thought of that myself and tried it weekend before last. I added a
couple of healthy squirts of dish liquid to an extra-concentrated
mixture of Roundup and sprayed a patch of ivy around and up some trees.
After a week the result was nil so far as I can tell (unless the leaves
are a bit cleaner now). I really hate to think about having to grub all
of the ivy out by hand since it covers ~1/4 acre.

With young annual weeds, the effects of Roundup should be visible
in less than a week. But with established perennials (e.g., ivy),
the result might not be visible for 2-4 weeks. Roundup works by
translocating from the foliage to the roots and then killing the
roots. With a larger root system, the established pernennials just
take longer.

--

David E. Ross
URL:http://www.rossde.com/

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