On Fri, 22 Feb 2013 20:06:37 +0000, The Original Jake wrote:

Is steam the way to go I wonder?

The principle behind a flame gun is that the cell structure of the top
growth is broken down (NOT burnt) by heat and this means the plant can
no longer photosynthesise and so dies

Yep, just waft the flame over, enough damage is done to the plant even if
it barely wilts. Many people seem to go in for full blown incendiary
destruction which isn't required.

(except for b***** dandelions and the like which can regrow from the
tap root).

They don't like being topped by the flame gun two or three times in the
year. B-)

Whether steam would be hot enough is debatable.

Real steam can be extremely hot and is very dangerous. Most people think
of "steam" as being the white wispy smokey stuff that you can see, it is
isn't, that white wispy smokey stuff is condensed water droplets. They
can still be hot but nowhere near as hot as the steam it has condensed
from.

Wether a small domestic steam cleaner can produce real steam at
sufficient temperature and quantity is debatable.

But you've got me thinking about whether steam cleaning my gravel
paths would make them look like new again!

Well steam sterilisation of soil is done but again wether a domestic
machine can produce enough steam is another matter. I suspect if you left
the plate (about 1 sq foot) of a steam wall paper stripper in place and
weighted down for a minute or two it might work as far as killing weeds
or algae etc but it isn't going to lift the debris away. And all that
dead plant material makes for nice plant food...

--
Cheers
Dave.