[apes1978]

Glyphosate  

does anyone know if its ok to plant or sow vegetables after applying it?
on the bottle it says you can plant or sow seeds, but it does not mention if what you plant is ok to eat afterwards! :?

it also says that after 1 week you can dig or rotavate the ground, is this ok considering i have a lot of bindweed? or should i reapply and leave a further week?

your help will be appreciated, just waiting for a dry day to get started!

[ytyynycefn]

Hope I've remembered this right from college....

Glyphosate is a systemic herbicide that kills any plant that takes up enough of it, and takes around 10 days or so to fully kill the plant, but degrades very quickly in the soil, leaving practically no residue.  It is only absorbed by the actively growing leaves of a plant, not the roots, and travels throughout the plant.  Weeds do come back after a month or two, though, because it virtually vanishes without a trace after the job is done.

The science bit...  :shock:  It disrupts the shikimate pathway, which metabolises certain aromatic amino acids into important plant nutrients like folates.  So basically as long as you're not brushing new plants up against wet, recently treated plants, you can theoretically plant/sow straight away, but I'd leave it a week or so.  And you can eat it afterwards, as the shikimate pathway isn't in animals, just in plants.

As bindweed is so extensive in it's root system, and something you REALLY don't want to spread around, I'd err on the side of caution, reapply and leave it a fortnight just to be on the safe side.  Just make sure it's not windy!

Hope this helps!

Mel

[stompy]

I'm currently using glyphosate, it works great, it killed all my couch grass, just left a few dandilions to dig out.

Then the land is clean after 3 to 4 weeks, no problems.

I'm only using it short term to give me a fighting chance against the weeds.

[James]

just left a few dandilions to dig out.

I am reporting you to the RSPCD.  Dandelions make superb salad.  Tastes quite like rocket and is delicious with a dribble of super duper extra virgin olive oil.  Don't you dare dig them up!

[apes1978]

Thanks guys, makes me feel a bit better about using it now, i will definately be doing a second treatment, just to make sure!

[Ian_P]

Keep applying it!!

I started my allotment in March 2005. I have some bindweed and I am still using Glysophate. It does no harm to the soil or subsequent plants.

It takes a very log time to translocate down to the tips of the roots, and if there is living root in there somewhere it will grow straight back again. It is rumoured the roots can be found up to 2m down in the subsoil. Seems a lot but who am I to argue, I've only got about 12-15" of topsoil.

Whatver you do don't rotovate. I did that on a small patch that I thought was free of bindweed. BAD MOVE. It is now spread all over the patch.  :cry:

[toto691]

......  and just for info....  its the ONLY thing that clears dreaded Horsetail weed..... and thats after a bit of reapplying!

[John]

......  and just for info....  its the ONLY thing that clears dreaded Horsetail weed..... and thats after a bit of reapplying!

No it isn't - amicide is far more effective on horsetail although you can't plant for six to eight weeks after.  I cleared a really heavy infestation on half a plot  with 2 applications, three weeks apart.
Still get the odd reappearance but  nothing I can't hoe away

[toto691]

Aha..... i have been missinformed....  i will try that, coz they keep coming back on a garden i am clearing for someone!!!

I have read differing views on websites to, so will give 'Amicide' a try.

I have also convinced myself that im not sure theyre horsetail too, i looked at some web pics which although look like the weeds i am clearing, they dont shoot up a 'tail' shape as well as the bush bits (eg 2 different looking parts from the same root system) and also one site said otherwise known as 'marestail'..... though this looks completely different again!!!

I wish there was a guaranteed weed spotter site out there!

[toto691]

OK.... im really confused now....  

I just did an image search on Google for 'Marestail' and got a lot of images showing a differing weed to the one im trying to destroy, and also quite a few which say 'otherwise known as Horsetail' and show yet another typre of plant!!!

Thus is shown as Marestail:

and this as Horsetail:


Yet its THIS:....that i want to get rid of...!!

[John]

the bottom pic is mares or horsetail - amicide will clear it.  see this page on this site Weeds and What to do

[toto691]

Thankyou....

It would seem that the more i look for it the more different versions are shown. If i look for 'field horsetail' then its definately the one, but marestail still brings up a lot of different plants?

[John]

Try looking for "Equisetum Arvense" - it's a bit of a bee to kill whatever

[silver8]

Dont you guys ever think of the bigger picture and think about the harm you are doing to the envirnoment with the use of such chemicals.

[Heather_S]

Amicide and glysophate are well documented chemicals which, when used with care, cause little damage to the enviroment. I don't personally see myself ever using either to "clear" a whole plot. I use it specifically in certain areas away from my edibles and handweed wherever possible. I spray on calm days so the spray does not go everywhere. There's no nearby water features for the glysophate to run off into to kill fish before it's neutralised by the soil. The weeds I spray do not have flowers so bees being harmed is not very likely.