Question about Roundup
 

The description on the container is a little confusing.

Is Roundup supposed to kill the weeds but not the grass? or is it supposed to kill both?

Roundup is a non-selective vegetation killer so it will kill the grass as well.

Yes. Very effectively as well. Me Mum once spritzed Roundup on a few weeds on her front lawn. Much havoc ensued.

Yes, Round Up on windy days is also a very bad idea.

A friend of mine has some veg killer that works for 5 years.........5 friggin years.

Some years ago I purchased a lot of Buffalo Grass sod for a rental property. After a year and within the warranty period, there were huge numbers of weeds in the sod. After consulting with the seller, he told me to spray everything with RoundUp early in the season when the weeds were active and the grass still dormant. Gave me a precise week to do it. Unfortunately, he lived about 75 miles north of me, and at my latitude the grass had already come out of dormancy that week. He ended up refunding me the full price of the sod and I had to resort to new Buffalo Grass seed.

Any idea what it is? The strongest stuff that we carry which is Restricted (need a Applicator License to purchase) will only give you 6-8 mos. control. I wonder if it's been kicking around for awhile.

OTOH I spilled some used motor oil in a spot in front of my shed and 7 yrs. later it's still barren.

That's a big D'OH!

so how quickly does it work. i sprayed it last weekend and the weeds are still there and still green.

Should see wilting within a day or two I think.

I will get the name, I know its common because I had a Horsetail weed issue and two landscapers mentioned the same stuff. I had to remove the dirt 6 feet deep and replace it to get the problem under control until I learned that my pond algacide whoops its ass after an accidental spill.

In the last couple of years, I've sprayed a few gallons of glyphosate and always have the same moment of doubt when nothing seems to be happening.

Because it disrupts the plant's ability to produce amino acids, efficacy of glyphosate herbicides (ie RoundUp) depends largely on the amount of sunlight and the rate of plant growth. If you mixed and applied it properly, you generally see results in 7-10 days.

Possibly so on large, broadleaf plants in a growth cycle. Grasses and other kinds of weeds take longer.

For selective control of noxious plants, I've rigged a wick-type applicator so that I can place roundup directly on the plant's leaves..time consuming but, I con't have to worry about killing the grass around undesirable plants.

I'm pretty sure that Tordon, Grazon, Reclaim, Spike, Redeem and Surmount (Dow trade names) all require a license in Texas.

Remedy (also Dow) does not require a license. I can testify that Remedy is worth every penny of the $90/gallon you spend on it...the stuff is incredibly effective on woody plants. Around here we have mesquite and huisache and you can apply a band of Remedy around the trunk and it will kill that plant in a week.


R

Roundup works fastest when plants are growing fast, in hot sunny times. I don't know where you are, but here in zone 7 midatlantic region I won't try roundup for at least another month. I spent several hours Sunday on hands & knees with my garden claw de-weeding some beds.

I spilled some branke fluid on a nice little patch of lawn about 9 months ago....

Its still dead.

A lot will depend on how fast the weed is actively growing, here in southern New England (still in the 40's, cold rain) plants aren't doing much of anything right now. The glyphosate is carried through the plant's leaves to the roots so if there isn't much translocation going in, it'll take a long time for the chemical to get there.

Roundup (glyphosate) will take about 5-7 days to show visible signs even though it starts working within a day or so. Roundup Plus or Roundup Pro (glyphosate + diquat) will show "death" within 2-3 days even though the total kill will take the same amound of time as straight glyphosate. All of that assumes ideal growing conditions.