Help with roundup mixing.

   / Help with roundup mixing. #12  
"Roundup Ready-to-Use Weed & Grass Killer III, commonly referred to as Roundup, is a low-concentration herbicide containing just 2 percent glyphosate and 2 percent pelargonic. It works on easy-to-kill annual weeds, grasses along fence lines or for spot spraying weeds in a garden."

We all are looking for the cheapest way to kill weeds when it comes to herbicides. Sometimes purchasing the cheapest product on the shelf is not the most cost effective way of achieving a goal.

When purchasing a glyphosate product (Roundup) for total vegetation control I have found it is more cost effective to avoid the Herbicide with low glyphosate numbers and do not contain a surfactant. For example Farm Works offers herbicides with glyphosate percentages from 41% to 73%. I use the 53.8% Farm works brand name and and 16 ounces of ammonia to a four gallon back pack sprayer and have fairly good results. If sprayed when the ambient temperature is above 70 degrees yellowing of vegetation can usually be visibly detected after about three days, if temperatures are at least 70 or above. I usually check the weather and insure the forecasted weather temperature is predicted to be in the 80's before spraying.

Herbicides are expensive. Farmers use an awful lot of them. Recent studies have shown that we all have traces of glyphosate in our systems.


Remember when purchasing total vegetation control herbicides to always look for the glyphosate percentage and purchase the highest percentage your pocketbook will allow and also check to see if the product contains a surfactant.

Also be prudent in the use any herbicide containing not only glyphosate but other chemicals as well. In my opinion anything that will kill grass or weeds will also kill me.
 
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   / Help with roundup mixing. #13  
Crossbow® works great, kills everything but grass. Just don't get it around trees (either in drip line or spray drift).
 
   / Help with roundup mixing. #14  
I use Crossbow on woody plants. The bane of my existence is bindweed, known to urban dwellers as morning glory. Roundup won't kill it. Dicamba won't kill it. 2,4-D won't kill it. Digging it out by hand won't kill it. I have one flower bed I have abandoned and just let the bindweed be a ground cover.
 
   / Help with roundup mixing. #15  
I got hold of a 2 gallon jug of straight roundup a few years back from a local farmer, it worked great but unfortunately I can't get any more. I found it would take 3-4 days to show any result and it would work good. What I didn't like, it was non residual and didn't kill plants that were just barely showing so I was constantly spraying which I didn't like.

I recently tried 5% vinegar, salt and a bit of soap mix and sprayed my whole driveway. It killed the grass and weeds within a day, they all turned brown and wilted, you could see the leaves burnt where the mixture had hit them. This was a couple weeks ago, I noticed that there was green starting to show about a week after so I sprayed it again which produced the same result.
This morning, roughly three weeks after the initial spray I just noticed, green starting again so maybe there's no residual action in the vinegar/salt solution neither.
It is better than nothing and a far sight cheaper than Roundup as a 4L bottle of vinegar is under CAN2$ and the salt is under a buck not to mention it's probably a bit safer too. I intend to spray it a few more times to see if it eventually will last.....................Mike
 
   / Help with roundup mixing. #17  
So I use roundup on a gravel area I have and on things like poison ivy and honeysuckle. I buy the Roundup brand name and make about 4 gallons in a backpack sprayer. The first time I followed the directions plus added a little extra, the results were disappointing. The next time I doubled the amount, better results but still not great. I had some of the pre made roundup, you don’t add water, I wanted to use up and it worked really well. That stuff is even more expensive and doesn’t go very far.

I spray mid morning when it’s hotter and sunny and so far it hasn’t rained for a few days after I apply it. What am I doing wrong? Do I need a surfactant?
Buried somewhere in the detailed label are instructions on water quality. It does make a difference.

If you have hard water, make sure that you add a water conditioner like ammonium sulfate (IIRC, it is 1.7lbs/gal, and get it fully dissolved in the water before adding glyphosate.). The ammonium sulfate helps keep the glyphosate from being inactivated by the calcium in the hard water, and the ammonium ions make glyphosate more effective, so it is a two for one. For an oily leaf plant like poison ivy, I would certainly use a surfactant.

All the best,

Peter
 
   / Help with roundup mixing.
  • Thread Starter
#18  
Thank you Peter, I do have hard water but there is a tap outside I can get soft water.
 
   / Help with roundup mixing. #19  
So I use roundup on a gravel area I have and on things like poison ivy and honeysuckle. I buy the Roundup brand name and make about 4 gallons in a backpack sprayer. The first time I followed the directions plus added a little extra, the results were disappointing. The next time I doubled the amount, better results but still not great. I had some of the pre made roundup, you don’t add water, I wanted to use up and it worked really well. That stuff is even more expensive and doesn’t go very far.

I spray mid morning when it’s hotter and sunny and so far it hasn’t rained for a few days after I apply it. What am I doing wrong? Do I need a surfactant?
For poison ivy or English Ivy, you need full strength and the special Roundup with a bit of tri-chlorp in it.
 
   / Help with roundup mixing. #20  
What is the school of thought regarding spraying herbicide such as glyphosate early in the morning when dew is present on the target species? Seems like I read some time ago that the dew will dilute the chemical and reduce the effectiveness.
 

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