Thread: weed control chemicals advice

Shedhand got it right. Fly it on. 2-4-5T is said to be an excellent defoliant!

Shedhand got it right. Fly it on. 2-4-5T is said to be an excellent defoliant! MurrayD99...


Anyone hearing the word orange around here??? and who is that agent!

Pete
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Originally Posted by maglite

Dicamba son........with a good wetting agent, by good i mean somethe like pulse or brushoff.......min 1/5 hr of sunlight required.

That will really knockem off..........shouldnt hurt the dog, but hey, it was probly his crap that made em come up in the first place

Great advise Maglite.
Dicamba is around 4 times more toxic orally and around 8 times more toxic dermally than Glycophoshate.

I had a German shepperd on a site once that rolled in the grass or ate it after we had sprayed with Roundup that lost most of its hair on its back and broke out in a very bad rash.

So if Dicamba has a dermal LD50 rating 8 times that of Glycophoshate it may just hurt the dog.

I really dont want to lecture but .....on the subject of poisonous chemical you shouldn't give advise unless it is your field of expertise or at least be familiar with the Australian Government publication A Manual Of Safe Practice In The Handling And Use of Pesticides.

Just because these products can be bought from Bunnies doesn't mean that they are not dangerous and it is illegal to use a pesticide for a purpose that it is not registered for.
That means you must at least know the name of the weed you are trying to eradicate.
Also residual chemicals really dont have a place in the urban environment.

Its funny how we are all touchy feely about water conservation and environmental management but we are all so lax about handling these chemicals. Its probably because we dont see the harm that they cause, and by the time side effects appear it was so long after the fact that we dont associate the symptoms with the cause.

I'm off for my DDT cocktail, sorry about the rant.

Originally Posted by Shedhand

PS: the bonus with the goat is that you can eat the bugger when she's done the job.

dont let Al hear you say that....

I would stick with roundup - get a cheap version, about 9 bucks for a litre and a litre will last a long time. Read the precautions and follow them - although a couple of my agricultural scientist customers tell me that glyco is basically very safe for humans. The with-holding period for stock is simply to let the stuff do its work within the plant - if a farmer sprays his paddock then lets the cows eat it immediately, the glyco does not get a chance to penetrate the plant.
The most harmful component is, I believe, the actual carrier for the glyco, which is very bad for aquatic creatures.
The other thing about glyco - spray it on, leave it for 3 days, then root the plants out by hand. The root-release mechanism of glyco has well and truly swung into action by then and the weeds will pull easily. Bits of root left in the ground will die off. You may need to re-spry after about 21 days if there are any weeds that have been missed. The stuff starts to work within 3 hours and had pretty well got into the plant within 6 hours.

I'm not trying to be a nazi, but the name is Glyphosate.

Depending on what you are killing Dicamba may be of no use as it is a selective herbicide.

Have you thought about digging the stuff out. It's in a suburban area, surely there can't be that much.

Originally Posted by outback

I'm not trying to be a nazi, but the name is Glyphosate.

Grovel beg snivel .... Sorry I did a google to check my spelling and guess what.... I am not alone in being wrong.......

Originally Posted by maglite

shouldnt hurt the dog, but hey, it was probly his crap that made em come up in the first place

hahah. thats a good point though

so can anyone tell me where i can buy some roundup or the other chemicals stated in the other posts??

cheers

If you are trying to kill the weeds but leave the grass unaffected use Grazon it will kill any woody type weeds/plants but not the grass and as the name implies it is safe for animals, I don't remove the stock from the paddock when useing it.

Arch.

vnman i'd be using the 'weeds.org.au' site to identify the plant before doing anything.
There are plenty of chemicals out there with a few already mentioned.
The problem can occur if the wrong chemical or too light a dose is used that the plant will come back stronger next growing season.
A typical example is with blackberry when you don't apply the correct dose. The root mass the next year is huge compared to the leaf area which takes in the poison and you have to let it grow for several years to be able to have enough leaf back to absorb the amount of poison needed.

If the plant is connected back through a root system back into your neighbours i'd be careful about being sued. They may love it growing on their side of the fence !

Finally if you go for aerial i'd go chopper rather than fixed wing it'll be cheaper.

Personally I am a little bit shy of mixing the vinegar with salt, especially if spraying around the house. Having a dog, and needing to poison some weeds in the backyard, I spent quite a bit of time researching using vinegar as a poison. Apparently, adding a bit of dishwashing liquid to the vinegar will make it stick to the leaves better, and spray for two or three days.

I used straight vinegar, and it killed the weeds in my driveway.
Boiling water will also kill weeds.

The reason I worry about adding salt is the potential for build up in the soil, and near buildings possibly salt damp?

The dishwashing liquid acts as a wetting agent (or surfactant) - that is, it cuts through any waxy coating on the leaves and allows for better uptake up of the "poison" by the plant.

Dishwasher rinse aid is supposed to be another good one to use (as a wetting agent).

Stick with Roundup or another brand of glyphosate, follow the pack directions re safety (washing hands, etc) & mixing concentration, spray at lowish pressure (high pressure causes more vapour that can drift), don't spray when dead still (vapour hangs in air) when too breezy (mist will drift) - somewhere in between will be OK. Don't spray when rain expected within 12 hours (less if the glypho has a surfactant).

Don't overcomplicate it, glyphosate would be the most widely used weedkiller in Aus, readily available from safeway, bunnings & everywhere else. Used sensibly & per directions it is entirely suitable for what you're doing.



Cheers...............Sean