Anybody with advice on vegetation killer?

[bobm]

Except for Liberty, glyphosate is the only other chemical with little to no half life. And with added surfactants, neither drift.

I use a good squirt of liquid dish soap as a surfactant to the lowest label recomended amount of Roundup that will kill the weeds that I want to erradicate. I also use a very small amount of spray and never saturate any weed like some home owners think is needed to kill it. A few little droplets goes a long way ! A less toxic alternative to Roundup is just a pipe dream as one might think that it is dead but it just sets the weed back, but it will come back with a vengence. I have tried every alternative that one can find on the recommended " organic" methods and find them all sorely lacking in killing ability and they increase costs for the product used not to mention labor time and expense.

 

[ducks4you]

Halfway through the brush cutting weekend. (Pictures later.) DH mowed the north pasture and my eldest DD took to the brush hog that we rented like a duck to water. Youngest DD was a trooper, too. She complimented me for pulling us all inside for breaks in the AC, as it hit nearly 90 degrees F, and not much of a breeze. I am glad that I rented this machine. It was somewhat disappointing because I thought it was going to rip through the burdock. Instead, it took several passes and I am/will have to hit them again with my push mower. However, my push mower just can't knock them down, so it's ok. We "hogged" down about 2 1/2 of the 4 acres today, and we'll get the rest tomorrow. Good deal on the rental. The place I rented from isn't open on Sundays, so I paid for one day and I get two.
Happy to say that it did a fine job in back of the barn where the open areas were a Forest of weeds.
The rain finally quit last week. Our soil is hard and cracked, even though it rained practically every day in June, here!
I'll have to wait to treat under the fences until I'm done with the rental unit.
Tomorrow we hit the south pasture, where we have about 40 pine trees, ~ 25-30 ft. tall, that the previous owners planted in the 1990's.
The horses had some good shade there where we trapped them for the day. They are out now nosing through what we chopped down, and AS USUAL they wait to eat them until After we mow.
The rain is going north of us tonight.
I'll be sure to pull my camera out tomorrow, and I'll give you a few after (north pasture), and before&after (south pasture.
Does anybody own a really good machine for this job? Don't know if maybe the blades aren't that sharp--it is, after all, a rental--or if these brush cutting machines aren't all that they are advertised to be. I'd be interested in your opinions. Thanks!!!

 

[Smart Red]

Waiting and listening for other opinions and options. I think I'll be needing something like that soon.

 

[valley ranch]

Hi, I know people who use 1gal white vinegar and 1 table spoon of dishwashing detergent to spray on weeds to be killed. Others add a cup of salt the the mixture {not sure if I like that}
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White gas works well and doesn't contain all the additives in automotive fuel. coleman fuel.
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Some places a torch can be used.
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Note. Round Up, the compound in this killer was designed originally to clean boilers, it is a Celator, it combines with minerals, it seems to disappear but has joined with minerals in the soil. The celator is also water soluble so it can migrate into the water table, leach to streams or be taken up by plants intended for the dinner table.

 

[canesisters]

I used 1/2 and 1/2 vinegar & water around the chicken pen and pastures a couple of weeks ago.
Seemes to have worked almost as well as roundup. Next time will try 3/4 vinegar, 1/4 water and a littel soap to cut the waxy coating on some of the weeds.

 

[so lucky]

@canesisters how long does it take for the vinegar and water treatment to be noticed? I know Roundup takes a few days.

 

[Smart Red]

The original "Round Up" takes several weeks before the plants [look like they] start dying back. If the Round Up you are using works is a few days it has other chemicals added for faster weed killing.

 

[canesisters]

Same @so lucky - about a week to really start to see brown/dying grass.
If I happen to think of it, I'll get some picts to compare the roundup'ed fence line and the vinegar'ed chicken coop

 

[thistlebloom]

The difference is that the vinegar solution doesn't kill the roots. It will kill the tops down, but for weeds with an aggressive root system they will be right back.

I have learned that some roots will stay viable underground for more than a few years.

 

[bobm]

The difference is that the vinegar solution doesn't kill the roots. It will kill the tops down, but for weeds with an aggressive root system they will be right back.

I have learned that some roots will stay viable underground for more than a few years.

YUP !!! Lots of folks see the weed tops turn brown and think that the weeds are killed... NOT !!! That is the problem of most of the home or folklore or organic "weed killers" .