The weather is finally good enough for me to spray weeds at the side of
the house and I have a spray container made with Roundup concentrate
probably almost a year ago. Will this still kill the weeds? I know they
say that it decomposes into some non-toxic form within two weeks of
spraying, so I figure it isn't terribly stable. Does anyone know if it
will still work? I used it, but don't want to have to wait a week or two
to find out if it's a waste of time waiting. Thanks for any info.

Dan

Dan_Musicant wrote:
The weather is finally good enough for me to spray weeds at the side of
the house and I have a spray container made with Roundup concentrate
probably almost a year ago. Will this still kill the weeds? I know they
say that it decomposes into some non-toxic form within two weeks of
spraying, so I figure it isn't terribly stable. Does anyone know if it
will still work? I used it, but don't want to have to wait a week or two
to find out if it's a waste of time waiting. Thanks for any info.

Dan


Yes, it is still good (or still bad, depending on your political bent.)

Round-up is deactivated in the soil almost immediately when it does an
ion-exchange with clay particles. It also decomposes in the soil. It
doesn't decompose in the bottle or sprayer. HTH :-)

Bob

On Mon, 01 May 2006 11:36:59 -0500, zxcvbob wrote:

an_Musicant wrote:
: The weather is finally good enough for me to spray weeds at the side of
: the house and I have a spray container made with Roundup concentrate
: probably almost a year ago. Will this still kill the weeds? I know they
: say that it decomposes into some non-toxic form within two weeks of
: spraying, so I figure it isn't terribly stable. Does anyone know if it
: will still work? I used it, but don't want to have to wait a week or two
: to find out if it's a waste of time waiting. Thanks for any info.
:
: Dan
:
:
:Yes, it is still good (or still bad, depending on your political bent.)
:
:Round-up is deactivated in the soil almost immediately when it does an
:ion-exchange with clay particles. It also decomposes in the soil. It
:doesn't decompose in the bottle or sprayer. HTH :-)
:
:Bob

Thanks Bob. Yes that helps plenty. Since we have heavily clay soil here
I suppose the Round-up will decompose quickly. Since you mention
politics, I wonder about the political aspect. I suppose I can do a
Google Groups search on roundup and come up with some threads where I
can see that discussed. Or maybe you or others can link me to
significant information. If there's a significant downside to using this
stuff I'd like to know about it. Thanks again.

Dan

Round-up is deactivated in the soil almost immediately when it does
an ion-exchange with clay particles. It also decomposes in the soil.
It doesn't decompose in the bottle or sprayer.

A follow-up question if I may. Does it matter what kind of water you
use to mix with the Round-Up? I use well water. My well has some iron
as well as other minerals I suppose. Do these impurities tend to
deactivate the Round-Up?

The reason I ask is, everybody I talk to seems to have better luck with
Round-Up than I do. They say the weeds are dead in a week. When I
use it, it takes up to three weeks to see any difference at all; and
sometimes I have to re-apply.

I'm not skimping on the mixture. I even tried tripling the amount.

I'm using it on weeds in my gravel driveway and between patio bricks.
Also on my trail in the woods to clear underground on and around the
trail.

A farmer friend even gave me a gallon of the commercial-grade stuff he
uses, and it didn't work any better.

I suppose the next step would be to try mixing with distilled water.
Haven't had the time to mess with that yet.

Ether Jones Round-up is deactivated in the soil almost immediately when it does
an ion-exchange with clay particles. It also decomposes in the soil.
It doesn't decompose in the bottle or sprayer.

A follow-up question if I may. Does it matter what kind of water you
use to mix with the Round-Up? I use well water. My well has some iron
as well as other minerals I suppose. Do these impurities tend to
deactivate the Round-Up?

The reason I ask is, everybody I talk to seems to have better luck with
Round-Up than I do. They say the weeds are dead in a week. When I
use it, it takes up to three weeks to see any difference at all; and
sometimes I have to re-apply.

I'm not skimping on the mixture. I even tried tripling the amount.

I'm using it on weeds in my gravel driveway and between patio bricks.
Also on my trail in the woods to clear underground on and around the
trail.

A farmer friend even gave me a gallon of the commercial-grade stuff he
uses, and it didn't work any better.

I suppose the next step would be to try mixing with distilled water.
Haven't had the time to mess with that yet.


the kind of water that u use doesnt really make much of a difference we have rust in our water here on the farm and my hubby uses it for tank mixing of roundup. i think the thing thats most important is to make sure that u get a good even coverage on the weeds that u want to get rid of.
some weeds do need an extra application of roundup especially if they have some herbicide tolerance or if u are trying to clear a really weedy area.
roundup is a contact herbicide which means that it kills off whatever it hits, it is also non systemic which means that it does not stay in the soil but breaks down quickly as has been mentioned . hope this helps u some.
cyaaaa, sockiescat.

The Round Up instructions at
http://www.horizononline.com/msds_sheets/pdf/rup25.pdf don't say anything
against using water with dissolved minerals, but they do say that reduced
results may occur if water containing soil is used, such as water from
ditches or ponds.

"Ether Jones" wrote in message
oups.com...

Round-up is deactivated in the soil almost immediately when it does
an ion-exchange with clay particles. It also decomposes in the soil.
It doesn't decompose in the bottle or sprayer.

A follow-up question if I may. Does it matter what kind of water you
use to mix with the Round-Up? I use well water. My well has some iron
as well as other minerals I suppose. Do these impurities tend to
deactivate the Round-Up?

The reason I ask is, everybody I talk to seems to have better luck with
Round-Up than I do. They say the weeds are dead in a week. When I
use it, it takes up to three weeks to see any difference at all; and
sometimes I have to re-apply.

I'm not skimping on the mixture. I even tried tripling the amount.

I'm using it on weeds in my gravel driveway and between patio bricks.
Also on my trail in the woods to clear underground on and around the
trail.

A farmer friend even gave me a gallon of the commercial-grade stuff he
uses, and it didn't work any better.

I suppose the next step would be to try mixing with distilled water.
Haven't had the time to mess with that yet.

To get rid of poison ivy, is there anything "better" than Round-Up?

By "better", I mean any of the following:

- less expensive (price per hundred square feet of weeds killed), or

- quicker (don't have to wait three weeks for weeds to die, or

- more effective (one spray does the trick; no need to re-apply)


Or is Round-Up the best available herbicide?

I am putting a half-mile-long trail in my woods, and I need to kill all
the undergrowth on and around the trail so people can walk comfortably.

Ether Jones wrote:
To get rid of poison ivy, is there anything "better" than Round-Up?

By "better", I mean any of the following:

- less expensive (price per hundred square feet of weeds killed), or

- quicker (don't have to wait three weeks for weeds to die, or

- more effective (one spray does the trick; no need to re-apply)


Or is Round-Up the best available herbicide?

I am putting a half-mile-long trail in my woods, and I need to kill all
the undergrowth on and around the trail so people can walk comfortably.



How much of it can you clear mechanically with a slingblade or a brush
hawg or a straight-shaft string cutter with a metal blade attachment?

Here's the herbicides that I know of. I'm sure there are lots mo

Round-up is probably the least toxic to people and the environment, but
other than that it's the most expensive and least effective choice.

"Ammate X" (ammonium sulfamate, IIRC) is what we used to a long time ago
the kill poison ivy. I think it's still available, I just haven't seen
it in a long, probably because it's so "old fashioned".

"Garlon 3A" or "Garlon 4E" is what the Forest Service uses to control
woody weeds, like buckthorn. Three is water based and 4 is oil based,
but they are essentially the same chemical, triclopyr. You can also buy
the same active ingredient from Ortho -- "Brush B Gon".

2,4-d is the cheapest solution. I use it very sparingly to spot-treat
dandelions and weed tree seedlings. The lawncare companies use tons of
it all over the neighborhood and they scare me.

Paraquat is cheap and effective and fast, but it's way too dangerous to
handle -- but at least it's quickly biodegradable like Round-up. Don't
use it, you'll kill yourself with it.

Best regards,
Bob

How much of it can you clear mechanically with a slingblade or a
brush
hawg or a straight-shaft string cutter with a metal blade attachment?


I tried replacing the string head on my weed whacker with a blade
assembly, but it was like a toy against the large brush in the woods.

The most effective tool I have found is a simple grass whip, with
serrated blade. It's easy to sharpen using the edge of my bench
grinder wheel. One good golf swing takes down 3/4" diameter woody
brush.

I have a 30" walk-behind self-propelled brush mower with a 17HP Kaw
engine, but I won't be using that "blind" in the woods. I don't want
to damage it by hitting stones and stumps and roots and logs.

The problem with mechanical removal is that it doesn't kill the roots.
And I don't want to be whacking poison ivy.

Thanks for the chemical suggestions. I use 2,4D in a hand-help pump
sprayer to spot treat dandelions in my lawn (approx 2 acres)*, but I
never realized it would be better than Round-Up on poison ivy and other
undergrowth in the woods. I will give it a try.

I'll also try the triclopyr. Maybe do 2 test patches, one with 2,4D
and one with triclopyr to see which works best.


* I used to carpet-bomb my whole lawn with 2,4D, but I never was
comfortable doing that, especially with all the irreplaceable mature
trees. Besides, there's something very satisfying about meandering
around the lawn spot-zapping the dandelions with the handheld sprayer.
And it seems to keep them from taking over the whole lawn.