Quote:
Originally Posted by R Leo
Thanks for the tip Bot...in the past we've used detergent on a couple of occasions when we've run out of surfactant. What do you think about simply dropping the surfactant?
We're particulalry overtaken with simlax (greenbrier), a tenacious thorny, woody vine that is damned near impossible to kill.... when you zap the leaves it kills the nearest part of the plant but pretty soon you'll see another sprouting up close by os I guess there's some connection in the root system. In areas that we want to rehabilitate we've used significant amounts of glyphosate herbicide during the last two years. It appears to have finally knocked out the simlax there because it's not reappearing this spring.
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Smilax (catbrier, greenbrier, sawbrier) has large rhizomes called lignotubers. They are mostly starch and lignified cellulose with small amounts of undifferentiated bud cells. usually herbicide is not translocated quickly enough in sufficient concentration to kill large lignotubers of Smilax and other species with similar structures.
Smilax also has a very heavy cuticle covering the epidermis, especially on the upper surfaces of the elaves and on the stems. The lower leaf surfaces often have very fine hairs. Both surfaces tend to protect the epidermis by holding the chemical away from living tissue. This is a plant that could stand a little extra detergent to help wet the entire surface of the leaf and stem.
It maybe that Smilax is one of those plants that require digging-out of the ground and hauling away.
there used to be a butt-kicking herbicide that would kill like a neutron emitter, Velpar. It was used to kill plants in surface cracks and would persist in the soil for a long time.
Another chemical that will kill plants and also persist for a long time is copper sulfate. In small concentrations it actually acts like a bit of a fertilizer. But in large concentrations, everything dies. Including microinvertebrates, large animals and even bacteria. Be careful.
Here's the MSDS for copper sulfate:
http://www.oldbridgechem.com/msdscuso4.html