I started using RoundUp last year. It’s meant to be used directly [1%] and comes with this silly sprinkler head that ends up wasting a lot of it throwing on things I don’t want. It’s about $10.
I tried a bottle of this stuff at the dollar store that appears to be 4% glysophate solution. I threw it directly on some especially tough weeds and bamboo, and it seems to work quite well.
Proportionately, it actually works out you’re getting slightly more with the dollar store one.
Why is the RoundUp 10 times the cost?
1 Like
Brand name, probably. I am not too fond of the RTU Roundup product sold here. It has glyphosate and diquat in it and I think the diquat burns the plant down too fast and the RoundUp doesn’t have time to soak in. Seems like it will kill only part of the weed sometimes.
1 Like
Glyphosate was still under patent protection until just a couple years ago. Now you can find it under a bunch of different brand names. If you are still buying “Roundup” just for the glyphosate action you are spending too much.
5 Likes
They all contain glyphosphate but might work a little bit better or a little bit worse, depending on the spreader/stickers or other chemicals the individual company includes with the glyphosphate. I do not believe companies need to reveal these ingredients as they are considered “inactive” ingredients and trade secrets, so you can’t be sure if one brand of glyphosphate formulation is identical to another.
2 Likes
i bought this herbicide concentrate at tractor supply. don’t remember the brand but it has glyphosphate in it. it takes about 2 weeks to fully kill the weed but i find that the weed is completely killed unlike some other products that the weed will almost die then come back. think its a commercial brand for farmers. don’t have to reapply to finish the job. will take out tress too. think i paid $15 for a gal. makes like 40 gal. of spray so pretty economical.
3 Likes
Yes I buy the concentrate from Rural King. It’s about 40% gylpho and I mix it in a pump sprayer with a spreader/sticker and sometimes blue dye. It works well.
4 Likes
Wow, that’s good news guys. Much cheaper and easier to get.
To be honest, I’m still kind of uncomfortable when I use it around the house or things we eat.
I know some gardeners/ homeowners use it regularly over their entire property, for example in place of cutting the grass. I’ve also heard it is the mainstay of commercial agriculture, which is essentially all the products we eat, so we are ingesting it (or whatever’s left of it) constantly.
Is my worry completely baseless?
1 Like
TBH, it’s far more likely to have an effect on reptiles, amphibians and other aquatic type critters. It can easily kill them if used indiscriminately and in damp/wetland-type areas.
Don’t take a bath in it, don’t drink it. But used judiciously around your lawn, I’d say it’s pretty far down the priority list re: stuff that can kill you.
1 Like
If i recall correctly, the only difference between glysophate herbicides is the spreader/sticker they use. Roundup is toxic to aquatic life due to the inactive ingredients. There are formulations of glysophate that are safe to use near water.
3 Likes
I use a product called glystar plus. It costs around $45 per gallon and mixes at a rate of about 3 ounces per gallon. It takes as much as 2 weeks to kill, but it definitely does kill completely.
Did everyone see where California listed roundup as a cancer causing agent? We already have commercials here in TN from law offices saying “if use roundup and you got cancer call us and we’ll help you get rich”. GRRRRR!!! Nothing like ambulance chasers trying to make money by fanning the flames of false (or at best unproven) claims.
I was surprised to see this article in the LA times, and was proud of them for it:
4 Likes
Kevin, I think Rural King has it for $31.00 for either 2 or 2.5 gallons. Does work well.,
2 Likes
Thanks Bob! But we don’t have rural kings around here, darn it! I may have overstated the price I pay though…I think its more like $40…but definitely not $32. Thanks anyway.
1 Like
Is there any reason you wouldn’t want to use concentrated forms directly? I find a lot of the weeds here are too tough for the diluted stuff. Rather than mix it to the recommended 1%, I’ve been spraying the concentrated 4% stuff directly.
1 Like
I buy the 41% and dilute it to 1% to 4% depending on the application. Grass is killed at very low concentrations in a single pass while woody plants often require quite a bit more.
Stumps can often be killed by drilling and applying concentrate into the holes.
1 Like
Yep that’s the one I get too
1 Like
Ok, thanks.
1 Like
I was in one of my favorite nurseries yesterday. They said after all of the reports of Round-Up staying in the ground so long they are no longer carrying it. That was a surprise.
2 Likes
In my neck of the woods I can only find 2.5 gallon bottles of glyphosate at Farm & Fleet. Here’s a list of other places I’ve checked that do not carry a generic:
Menards
Lowes
Home Depot
Farm King
True Value Hardware Stores
What I buy from Farm & Fleet is Crop Smart (41% glyphosate). It’s on sale several times a year for 34.99 or full price of 39.99
It takes ~2-weeks like everybody else is reporting. I mix it at a heavier concentrate than recommended using 5-6 oz. per gallon. My weeds die somewhere in the range of 10-days at that rate w/o a second application necessary for tough weeds like purslane.
Dax
4 Likes
Do grass and weeds killed with Glysophate have the same nutritional value for the soil as just cutting it and letting it decompose?
Edit: Also, are all Glysophate based weed killers equally safe around fruit and vegetables? The stuff I’m buying at the dollar store has very vague instructions that say something about not using it in vegetable gardens, but it’s not clear whether they mean don’t put it on your vegetables, LOL .
I would say that definitely 100% they do have the same nutritional value.
I spray glyphosate around vegetables. I think ‘back in the day’ I read on the label not to harvest vegetables unless a two-week window has been reached. If you’d like I’ll pull up a PDF off the internet and find that info. for you (and me.) I’ll have a look now.
Dax