Roundup... can it be used safely? Alternatives?

[Muse]

Very wet and extended winter has resulted in areas of my back yard completely overrun with grass and weeds, areas I have preferred to have barren (which is, of course, difficult). Probably around 50 square feet of grass/weeds.

I have a few hoes of various quality and type. 3 conventional, one hula-hoe. I can and do sharpen the conventional ones with my grinder and a two-coarseness whetstone. Their quality varies from crap to 1/2 decent manufacturing quality and quality of tool steel.

But hoeing those weeds is tough. The ground's getting pretty dry and there seems to be no soil condition that makes weeding easy. Plus, my shoulders hurt. The grasses have totally gone to seed and they are starting to show the effects of no rain for over a week (i.e. drying).

I have had a quart container of concentrated Roundup for 10+ years and used it on occasion. I've picked relatively windless days when there was promise of no rain for several days. I grow vegetables, so I've been careful to keep the mist off the vegetables. I have used a simple hand sprayer you hold in one hand when I do this. Probably wore a dust mask, too. I have a couple of bigger sprayers, the kind you pump up by hand to get pressure and have hoses with trigger handles on the ends. I've never used them with Roundup and would fear to do so. I've used them mostly to spray baking soda solution on my kabocha squash to slow down the fungus that always takes them over later in the growing season.

I seem to remember hearing that Roundup disintegrates after two weeks, but I'm not seeing that now, have to think it is residual.

There's been various controversy concerning the danger/toxicity of Roundup and I'm concerned.

I have weeds/grass right next to my newly planted kabocha patch (6x10 feet), the seedlings are about the size of my hand. Further away are 1/2 dozen tomato plants now almost 2 feet high.

Use Roundup with precautions? Use something else? Or just hoe?

 

[Red Squirrel]

One thing I've done if all you want to do is kill everything is place a tarp over the area and put weights on it like lumber or something, try to seal it in. Leave it for about a month and everything under it will be dead and the soil will be very moist making it easy to till and repack, then you can put grass seed and start over.

Roundup would work but I'm not really a fan myself of using chemicals if I can avoid it. It will contaminate the soil and be overall terrible for the environment.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm fairly anti chemical, but you've bought it now. It's out in the wild, and you might as well get benefit from it. Otherwise, I typically use manual methods. Around my place, I use a machete. If I wanted bare ground, I'd use a hoe, and maybe spread plastic like Squirrel said.

 

[Muse]

One thing I've done if all you want to do is kill everything is place a tarp over the area and put weights on it like lumber or something, try to seal it in. Leave it for about a month and everything under it will be dead and the soil will be very moist making it easy to till and repack, then you can put grass seed and start over.

Roundup would work but I'm not really a fan myself of using chemicals if I can avoid it. It will contaminate the soil and be overall terrible for the environment.

Great idea. Never thought of tarping. Thanks!

 

[Muse]

I'm fairly anti chemical, but you've bought it now. It's out in the wild, and you might as well get benefit from it. Otherwise, I typically use manual methods. Around my place, I use a machete. If I wanted bare ground, I'd use a hoe, and maybe spread plastic like Squirrel said.

I have a machete, have sharpened it pretty darn well, still wasn't too good at hacking away unwanted vegetation. It might scare off a home invader, though. I also have a homemade grass whip. I saw something about it many years ago, IIRC before the internet was invented, probably in a book. Don't remember loving it, but I think it works better than the machete. It's a piece of tool steel about 8" long, sharpened on both edges and attached to a rod that's inserted into a varnished stick around 4 feet long.

 

[skull]

I don't care for it either because I don't want the dog rolling in it then hopping in my bed. It won't kill you though, most crops are sprayed heavily with it.

 

[Thebobo]

I use plain old salt mixed with water and a little dish soap to help it stick. Been using it for decades.

Other ideas..

https://www.todayshomeowner.com/video/how-to-make-a-nontoxic-weed-killer/

 

[stargazr]

I saw this the other day, haven't tried it but have weeds growing between the street and curb by my house, and am reluctant to use Roundup and want to try it. Thebobo mentioned salt also so sounds good.

Edit: OK this is the same formula as video in post above.

 

[lxskllr]

Dawn has some bizarre cult following that imbues it with magical properties. It's detergent. Same as any other detergent. There's no need to specify it by name. "Liquid detergent" is sufficient.

 

[Brainonska511]

I saw this the other day, haven't tried it but have weeds growing between the street and curb by my house, and am reluctant to use Roundup and want to try it. Thebobo mentioned salt also so sounds good.

View attachment 5542

Natural News is not a reliable source for anything.

There's been various controversy concerning the danger/toxicity of Roundup and I'm concerned.

That's mostly overblown nonsense. The active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, is quite nontoxic to people.

General fact sheet on it: http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/glyphogen.html
Technical fact sheet on it: http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/archive/glyphotech.html

It targets a pathway not found in people. Note that the LD50 for rats, the dose necessary to kill at least half of them, is over 4000 mg/kg. You'd have to ingest a HUGE amount to have any sort of toxic effect from using it.

 

[stargazr]

oh, ok

 

[Red Squirrel]

I would not worry about toxicity to people only, but to the environment and animals too, ex: pets. Also bees. Not really good to contaminate soil with poison no matter how safe the salespeople tell you it is. Plants that do eventually grow there, that happen to survive will also have it inside them, then animals, pets etc may eat the plants. I've used some weed killer in small quantities before but I try to avoid it now days especially with the bees being near extinction. Don't want to add to the problem.

So many people get Weed Man for their lawn that's not any better. Not cheap either. I can't justify that kind of money so my lawn can look nice for 2 months.

 

[BoomerD]

Roundup is fine...as long as it's used correctly. Don't gargle with it, don't bathe in it...and you'll be just fine.

I buy the "super concentrate" at Costco. (Purple bottle/label /cap)
I mix it about 20-25%stronger than the directions say...then add about 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap for the 2 gallon sprayer. The dish soap works as a wetting agent...and makes the chemical soup stick to the vegetation better. I accidentally wiped out a huge swath of my front yard with it about 10 years ago...took 2 years to completely grow back in.

 

[Fir]

Roundup is for sissies...

Try Pramitol. 2.5 gal bottles are $100 and will last a while.
Use as directed.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Flamethrowers are much more environment friendly.

 

[LTC8K6]

Dawn has some bizarre cult following that imbues it with magical properties. It's detergent. Same as any other detergent. There's no need to specify it by name. "Liquid detergent" is sufficient.

"wetting agent"

 

[zinfamous]

One thing I've done if all you want to do is kill everything is place a tarp over the area and put weights on it like lumber or something, try to seal it in. Leave it for about a month and everything under it will be dead and the soil will be very moist making it easy to till and repack, then you can put grass seed and start over.

Roundup would work but I'm not really a fan myself of using chemicals if I can avoid it. It will contaminate the soil and be overall terrible for the environment.

yeah, this does work. Keep that chemical shit out of your water, bro.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Roundup is fine...as long as it's used correctly. Don't gargle with it, don't bathe in it...and you'll be just fine.

This. Just wear gloves and long pants and you should be fine. Obviously, don't apply it when there is a moderate to strong wind either.

I admit, I've gotten lazy a few times and have gone out in gym shorts and without gloves and used it, but that's the exception and I really shouldn't be doing that.

 

[zinfamous]

Dawn has some bizarre cult following that imbues it with magical properties. It's detergent. Same as any other detergent. There's no need to specify it by name. "Liquid detergent" is sufficient.

it is legit, though. I think what differentiates Dawn is that they have a higher, maybe just slightly, % of SDS in their recipe--or that they use SDS over other types of ionic detergents--compared to other brands. In the molecular lab, it's the preferred substitute for the pure detergents in a pinch, when you want to kill some nasty nucleases or stray nucelotides, or maybe even attempt (but still fail) to kill some prions.

I do believe that the mass cult following was largely influenced by Dawn's use to clean up the Exxon spill in Alaska. But of course that was the choice in general, I think, because a lot of those chemists already knew that Dawn really is kind of magic.

Granted, for everyday kitchen use, it may not make much of a difference. But Dawn has no general use brand substitute in the lab!

 

[Jeeebus]

I don't know why, but I can't read the thread title without immediately going to this:

 

[skull]

Roundup is fine...as long as it's used correctly. Don't gargle with it, don't bathe in it...and you'll be just fine.

I buy the "super concentrate" at Costco. (Purple bottle/label /cap)
I mix it about 20-25%stronger than the directions say...then add about 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap for the 2 gallon sprayer. The dish soap works as a wetting agent...and makes the chemical soup stick to the vegetation better. I accidentally wiped out a huge swath of my front yard with it about 10 years ago...took 2 years to completely grow back in.

Couple years ago I went out to my buddies families lake out in the country, were swimming around in it with his kids and our dogs and I kept smelling a strong distinct smell. Finally I'm like oh yeah you dummy this lakes filled with all the crop run off, thats round up your smelling.

 

[Brainonska511]

Couple years ago I went out to my buddies families lake out in the country, were swimming around in it with his kids and our dogs and I kept smelling a strong distinct smell. Finally I'm like oh yeah you dummy this lakes filled with all the crop run off, thats round up your smelling.

What made you think the smell was roundup and not fertilizers (of which run-off is a big problem due to the algae blooms they can cause) or some other pesticide?

 

[skull]

What made you think the smell was roundup and not fertilizers (of which run-off is a big problem due to the algae blooms they can cause) or some other pesticide?

I'm sure it was a combination but roundup first came to mind.

 

[DietDrThunder]

Well, apparently you can get rich if you buy and use Roundup. https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...california-man-awarded-80-million/3293824002/

 

[ImpulsE69]

Isn't roundup the product where the CEO or someone was on the stand for that lawsuit saying 'it's so safe you can drink it', and they asked him to drink it and he wouldn't?