brian mitchell writes
"CWatters" wrote:


"Alan McKenzie" wrote in message
...
Need to do some serious weeding and want to use something that will be
neutralised once it hits the soil - need to plant in around three months.

The label on Roundup says it's inactivated on contact with soil and can be
used before planting veg. It says you can replant next day (or after 7 days
if the max strength was used for dense weed cover).

Having a serious problem with dandelions in pasture grass, I sprayed
them with Roundup individually at close range to minimise collateral
damage. This was in Spring last year. It is only now, after the best
possible conditions for growth, that the bare patches are starting to
close up.

I understand that dandelions secrete a chemical which inhibits the
growth of other plants and that may partly account for the length of
time it's taken for the grass/other flowers to fill in the patches, but
I'm now inclined to take the assertion about glyphosate becoming
inactive on contact with the soil with a large pinch of sceptical salt.

I'm immensely sceptical about assertions that various plants secrete
chemicals that inhibit growth of other plants. It's said about a lot of
different trees, and in a lot of cases, absence of growth can easily be
explained by shade, lack of moisture and impoverishment of the soil.
--
Kay