Topic: weedkiller

[demelzah]

is it safeto use weedkiller on my plot were i want to grow veggies. if so what can i use?

[davyw1]

Its much safer to use a garden fork

[rugbypost]

Don,t mix with anything you put back on your plot and don,t spray near grass if you are going to put the cuttings around your potatoes  ;D Best to bend the back and use a folk ;)

[lincsyokel2]

best bet is roundup or resolva 24, one the glyphosphate based ones, they become harmless when they touch the soil.

[Melbourne12]

best bet is roundup or resolva 24, one the glyphosphate based ones, they become harmless when they touch the soil.

Hear, hear.  Completely safe.

[demelzah]

thanks for helpful replies, shall get some tomorrow. do u know how long after using i can plant

[Melbourne12]

thanks for helpful replies, shall get some tomorrow. do u know how long after using i can plant

Straight away in theory.  But you'll find that glyphosate takes a number of days for the effects to become apparent.  The weeds will be doomed the moment you spray it on, but they'll only gradually turn brown and wither.  It's probably best to allow a week before removing the dead weeds (which will come out easily), then rake the soil over ready for planting.

If you're bold enough, you can calculate when your seeds are likely to germinate, and spray glyphosate a couple of days before.  That will kill any emerging weed seedlings, and remove the competition from your veggie seeds as they come through a couple of days later.  Of course, if you miscalculate ...

[grannyjanny]

I think the safety of glyphosate is debatable. They changed the wording on it last year I think. Someone who is clever will hopefully have a link to the info.

It's personal choice I know but as a person with health problems it's a BIG NO here.

I have a feeling Tonibloke put up a link previously.

[goodlife]

glysophate based weedkillers take up to 2 week to start working on established plants..and generally they should be left until properly dead ..otherwise you might as well dig it all out.
Weeds like dog leaves and nettle may take 3-4 weeks before dead!
If perennial weeds are not brown and dead before turning the soil over..the chemical haven't had chance to work into roots yet and they just produce new growth again.
If you are going to result using weedkillers..do exactly what the label does and don't hurry with the result or your money is just waisted and you end up either doing more harm than good, having to 'fork out' money for re-application and/or just doing it all again the hardway..digging.. ::)
Personally I don't use any weedkillers anywhere near my veg..but I admit using some on areas that would otherwise be hard to keep in check..like paths and other bits of 'waste' ground that is not used for growing.

[pigeonseed]

I don't use it but partly it's just not my habit. I did hear that glyphosate came with other chemicals like surfactants which caused more environmental damage, even though the glyphosate itself breaks down. That put me off a bit. I dig and hoe and it works for me, but maybe it would be easier to use chemicals, I don't know!

I guess if you use the weedkiller long before harvest, you'll be ok healthwise, anyway.

[cornykev]

As said earlier get the fork out and get stuck in, no to poisons.   :o :P

[Lottiman]

I took on a plot untouched for 15 years chopped,strimmed,burnt and dug all by hand it's taken 3 years and i am proud of what i have achieved and no weed killer.As others have said you cant beat a fork there bloody brilliant ;D

[BarriedaleNick]

I do use the very occasional bit of roundup on ground elder or bindweed but I do prefer the traditional hard work method favoured by cornykev and many others.

Recently monsanto has again been found guilty again in a French court of false advertising...

from the beeeb..

France's highest court has ruled that US agrochemical giant Monsanto had not told the truth about the safety of its best-selling weed-killer, Roundup.

The court confirmed an earlier judgment that Monsanto had falsely advertised its herbicide as "biodegradable" and claimed it "left the soil clean".

The company was fined 15,000 euros (£13,800; $22,400). It has yet to comment on the judgment.

Roundup is the world's best-selling herbicide.

Monsanto also sells crops genetically-engineered to be tolerant to Roundup.

French environmental groups had brought the case in 2001 on the basis that glyphosate, Roundup's main ingredient, is classed as "dangerous for the environment" by the European Union.

In the latest ruling, France's Supreme Court upheld two earlier convictions against Monsanto by the Lyon criminal court in 2007, and the Lyon court of appeal in 2008, the AFP news agency reports.

Earlier this month, Monsanto reported a fourth quarter loss of $233m (£147m), driven mostly by a drop in sales of its Roundup brand.

[goodlife]

 :o  That fine is 'PEANUTS' for large company like that! They should have added several zeros for those sums ::) ::)...might as well not bother for those pennies... ::)

[Melbourne12]

:o  That fine is 'PEANUTS' for large company like that! They should have added several zeros for those sums ::) ::)...might as well not bother for those pennies... ::)

I understand that French law, like UK law, imposes small punishments for small offences.  Since this was a minor technicality over the wording of the label, it sounds about right.

[grawrc]

Here's what the UK pesticide action network has to say about glyphosate:
http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/glyphosa.htm

Interestingly, I believe Resolva (not a Monsanto product) also contains diquat.

[Melbourne12]

Its much safer to use a garden fork

A casual Google led to to this: http://www.rospa.com/faqs/detail.aspx?faq=222

which suggests that 2 thousand people each year are injured seriously enough by garden forks to require hospital treatment.  If your weeds need a spade to dig them out, you can add another 3,600 a year to that.

Over 100 people each week needing hospital treatment from forks and spades!  Does anyone have the equivalent figures for glyphosate?  :)

[Ellen K]

... and PAN-UK is a pressure group which campaigns against the use of chemicals in agriculture and its "fact sheet" is just a random collection of anecdotes from people with similar views.

If you are interested in the facts, you can google Glyphosate MSDS (= material safety data sheet) and find a comprehensive summary of all the safety data warts and all.  

[Chicken Legs]

And Monsanto weed the world ... I just don't buy it and weed by hand ... a few nettles here and there but better than killing the planet the corporate way >:(

[grawrc]

Monsanto are a bunch of crooks. I wouldn't believe anything they said.