I know people need to be careful about windrift etc. but I’m wondering if there’s other ways it can affect plants. For example, my gardens water supply is from the ditch which is overlooked by a graveyard. I was wondering if chemicals might leach down into the ditch, and then I’m pumping that water into the garden. Not sure if they use round up there or anything else toxic. I know roundup and other pesticides and herbicide’s are used in large amounts nearby on some of the agricultural land.
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Roundup depletes one of the major bacteria types in the soil. But ramifications of this depletion have not been found so far.
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In theory Roundup breaks down quickly in the soil, that’s we learned in college. Best practice to use as little as possible.
However, you can find reams of research to support just about anything about Roundup, good or bad. Hard to say with any certainty, particularly if you follow the beliefs that Monsanto is engaged in massive cover-ups.
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I still don’t really get it. I’ve heard the breakdown in the soil thing, but what if for example it splashes on your boots ( happened to me)and then you’re walking through good crops? How long does the residue stay active on your boots? It stays active inside the bottle for a very long time. How about mixed in with ditchwater?
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When I’m close to water I switch from roundup to rodeo. I’m not big on spraying but if you have a couple hundred thistles come up on a pond dam it’s best to get with it fast before they bloom! Spot spray ASAP! They claim rodeo is safe enough to use on cattails in a fish pond which I may put to the test.
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Rodeo=Roundup. Same active.
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Wouldn’t the main concern from a grave yard be broadleaf herbicides? I don’t know a whole lot about what they use but some of the stuff sprayed on wheat is very persistent.
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When it comes to aquatic species and water safety they are said to be different though your right that they are both glysophate. I don’t want run off impacting fish or aquatic species.
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I believe the impact on aquatic life from Round Up comes from the “inert” ingredients.
Glyphosphate itself was determined to be ok-ish for aquatic life but then someone thought of testing Round Up and not just glyphosphate. The Round Up product was much worse for aquatic life than the glyphosphate.
I can round up the research if anyone can’t find it or doubts me, but i researched it a little while ago, and that is what I found.
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Round up has different surfactants than Rodeo, same strength of glyphosate.
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Glyphosate, the active ingredient in RoundUp is easily “deactivated” by very small amounts of organic matter, or hard water minerals. It is so attracted to minerals, that it is recommended to use ammonium sulfate as a pre-conditioner to the tank to bind the minerals in the water before adding glyphosate to the tank.
In other words, it is extremely unlikely you could walk through ditch water and track it on your plants. The person using the RoundUp would have to use an extraordinary amount with soil of almost no organic matter, followed by heavy rains to wash it in the ditch. Glyphosate doesn’t migrate through the soil well at all. It doesn’t break down quickly, but binds tightly to cations in the soil (or water) and renders it inert to plants.
It’s a different matter with many broad leaf herbicides, which are probably being used in the cemetery. They can and do migrate in soil and can remain active in leach water. In that case, you might keep an eye out for herbicide damage on some of your garden plants. But if you haven’t seen any damage yet, you’re probably ok to continue using the ditch water to irrigate.
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A few plants are particularly sensitive to glyphosate and can be used for a bio-assay. If you have a spare tomato or bean plant you’re willing to sacrifice you should see damage in about 24 hours, depending on the weather.
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OK thanks guys.
The boots reference was about splashing Roundup on wet weeds and then walking through the weeds immediately after with my boots. I wasn’t sure how long round up would stay active on my boots.
I was spraying this ditchwater regularly on a whole bunch of tomatoes last year all season, and they turned out great, so perhaps it’s clean.
Good to know
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