I didn’t think anyone (save for me) really mentioned glyphosate, and even then, not initially. I mentioned 2-4D and Dicamaba, but I can understand why the chemical chosen to be highlighted would be the one with the slowest of all reaction time. 2-4 days (by your own, very generous figures) sounds a little less than weeks…months. The reality is, it works faster than that.
Tough weeds are a lot different than young and tender fruit trees.
Perhaps you have some links that support your statements instead of mine?
As70
You mentioned Agent Orange. It was 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, which has a much longer half-life than 2,4-D… but probably the bigger deal with the widespread use of it as a defoliant during the Vietnam War was the fact that it was heavily contaminated with dioxins.
I have a 16 oz can of Ortho 2,4-D/2,4,5-T (essentially Agent Orange) that I found when I was cleaning out my MIL’s basement back in 1999… probably dates back to the 1960s. I’m keeping it… will probably use it - very sparingly, and in a VERY targeted manner, as a basal or frill application on something hard-to-kill somwhere along the line. Till then, I’ll mainly be relying on Pathway(Tordon) for stuff like honeylocust seedlings, and Lo-V ester of 2,4-D for blackberries and multiflora rose in fencelines. I don’t use much glyphosate… as a livestock grazier, I’m usually trying to preserve grass (and minimize impact on clovers, too!).
Sean. I’ve been thinking about your situation a lot the last few days and wondered how did your trees do for the rest of this season. Did they all come back?
Anne, they ended up pushing through new growth. I think they will end up fine. Thanks for the concern. It was a rough spring! Gonna spray myself next year