On Sat, 25 Jul 2009 Bob Minchin wrote:

I think it has been mentioned before here that glyphosate is available
in France much cheaper that in UK.

Indeed.

I shall be going to France on holiday for most of September and will
have this on my shopping list.
Where is the best/cheapest places to buy this stuff bearing mind I only
have sufficient French to get typically get a meal and a bed for the
night and could not support a conversation on the relative
concentrations and applications of the stuff!!

You should find it in most bricolage stores (bricolage is the French for
DIY). If you're going to be in Normandy then there are Bricomarché
stores (the same chain as the Intermarché supermarkets). But any brico
place should stock it.

What are the brand names to lookout for please and does it come in the
bewildering range of concentrations that we get here?
I'd like 360 or 540 gms per litre so I can make up my own dilutions.
Is glyphosate the same word in French?

Yes.

Is désherbant the key word to be looking for?

Yes.

I have a one litre bottle of it in front of me. It simply says
Glyphosate 360 g/l and on the box it came in the word "désherbant"
appears at the top.

I bought it two or three years ago and I think the price I paid was
about 7 euros. That was on special offer. The normal price was about 15
euros, still far cheaper than Roundup.

Someone here said that it's possible to buy it at an agricultural
distributor called Agrial in bulk (you take your own container and they
fill it up) which is cheaper still. I haven't ever tried that even
though there is an Agrial near to where I live.

On the box you may see the words "doses homologuées". That means
recommended dosage.

Do ask if there's any more you want to know.

David (who lives in Normandy for part of the year but is no relation to
"David in Normandy" who also writes here!)

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk