Safe(r) Alternative to Roundup??

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Not really looking to discuss whether or not Roundup may contribute to certain cancers, just looking for opinions about any alternatives? Are there any safe or safer alternatives that are commercially available to keep weeds under control?
 
My uncle's community started using Vinegar a few years ago. I have not really heard any complaints from him (who is particular about his backyard).
Edit: I don't know if they use off the shelf vinegar or certain garden type (concentrated) vinegar.
 
Depends how big the application is as to whether an alternative works as well.

My old place, Reg, the former owner used "liquid lawnmower" (roundup) three times a year on the back yard.
 
If 10,000 people buy one gallon of weed killer and mix it correctly, thats a lot of chemicals poured over your city.
 
Remember you should be wearing gloves and rubber boots when spraying or spreading any herbicide or insecticide.

Farmers were spraying glyphosate on fields planted with glyphosate resistant food crop seeds. Most homeowners are spraying Roundup on poison ivy, etc.

The broadleaf weed killer 2,4-D (2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazine) is pretty effective on a wide variety of broadleaf weeds including poison ivy.

Pulling weeds is always an option.
 
Wonder how Brush b Gone stacks up. I use that 2 or 3 times a year on poison ivy. Seems to work well, not sure if there is anything else that could be used.
 
I tried Roundup once. I found it takes forever to work, and was unnecessarily expensive. I switched to Spectricide and got much better results. Not to mention the stuff is around $5 a gallon, and starts working immediately. If you apply it early in the morning, buy dinner time the weeds are already turning black. In just a couple of days they're gone.
 
We make our own - it's vinegar, epsom salt and dawn dish soap. Pop it in the backpack powered sprayer and off we go. It will burn grass as roundup does.. I think you substitute regular salt. There are 'recipes' out there but can lookup the proportions we use.
 
Speed of kill does not necessarily equate to long term effectiveness (burndown herbicides), but in this case the Spectricide is a good product. This assumes that bilt is talking about the Spectracide Weed and Grass Killer. Spectracide is a brand name that includes many types of products including insecticides, herbicides, maybe fungicides.

The Dicamba found in Spectracide Weed and Grass Killer is considered to be more toxic than glyphosate and has similar concerns about "possibly" encouraging cancer. The OP is looking for safer alternatives than commercial herbicides. I am not sure there exists any safer products that translocate to kill the roots, important with dandelions, quackgrass, etc.. Maybe changing management techniques to only use glyphosate when absolutely necessary might be the most effective approach. When a burndown type product will get the job done (vinegar, Scythe, etc.), go that route.

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/08/29/dicamba-herbicide.aspx
 
Originally Posted by billt460
I tried Roundup once. I found it takes forever to work, and was unnecessarily expensive. I switched to Spectricide and got much better results. Not to mention the stuff is around $5 a gallon, and starts working immediately. If you apply it early in the morning, buy dinner time the weeds are already turning black. In just a couple of days they're gone.


I went to a farm & ranch store and purchased a quart of " farm grade " concentrated Roundup ( maybe 30 - 35 years ago ) . Mixed some up & used it on a fence line . Worked fell .

In the last year , I have purchased pre mix Roundup in the gallon spray jug , twice . Barely worked at all ! :-( Last I bought of that .

Figure it is so dilute as to be almost useless .
 
Round up is used to harden crops for harvesting. The Potatoes and grains.you are eating Roundup in your food. Cows and Chickens etc are fed grains finished with
Round up and have concentrations of Round up in their meat. Protect yourselves.
 
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Its funny...roundup is illegal in Canada (at least in Quebec). Yet businesses can still buy it and use it. Not to say Im any type of scientist but I have looked at the studies which seem to be mixed but inconclusive..lawn chemicals to kill weeds in lawns are also illegal here, some alternate products exist but are not very effective. With that said, maybe try cleaning vinegar? Its much more concentrated. I get what I need from the USA...
 
Originally Posted by CT8
Round up is used to harden crops for harvesting. The Potatoes and grains.you are eating Roundup in your food. Cows and Chickens etc are fed grains finished with
Round up and have concentrations of Round up in their meat. Protect yourselves.


Even if you grow your own in the soil it can contain it...runoff..farms use it so do commercial companies...if its really that bad they should ban it across the board and not make exceptions...to me its like giving a carbon tax discount to coal powered companies lol...
 
Originally Posted by deanm11

We make our own - it's vinegar, epsom salt and dawn dish soap. Pop it in the backpack powered sprayer and off we go. It will burn grass as roundup does.. I think you substitute regular salt. There are 'recipes' out there but can lookup the proportions we use.



This is what we use most of the time. Nukes anything it touches (grass, weeds, etc) but needs to be reapplied periodically.
 
This is what I buy when I'm across the border in the US because they banned all of this stuff here for residential use and the ECO crap doesn't work.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ortho-Weed-B-Gon-Weed-Killer-For-Lawns-Concentrate-1-gal/41867439
I blanket the front/back in the spring and have no weeds all season.

I also feed my lawn with Scott's lawn food in the spring and in the fall for dense lush deep green grass to keep the weeds away.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Scotts-Turf-Builder-Lawn-Food-5-000-sq-ft/25852076
 
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Vinegar (acid) can kill from the leaf but is not systemic … the Dawn (surfactant) is a binder.

Putting sodium chloride into the soil has it's own issues …

Hard to measure the net impact of these … but black cloth and mulch … Gravel etc … can greatly minimize the need for any of these …

(and I don't use a California tort lawyer, judge, and jury as a measure of anything) …
 
Originally Posted by deanm11

We make our own - it's vinegar, epsom salt and dawn dish soap. Pop it in the backpack powered sprayer and off we go. It will burn grass as roundup does.. I think you substitute regular salt. There are 'recipes' out there but can lookup the proportions we use.



This is what we do as well. The vinegar is the cheapest we can get, usually at Wally's. Same for the salt. The dish soap adds a surfactant property to the mix. If sprayed on a clear day it will do the job. Over time the salt accumulation prevents anything from growing.
 
When I lived on a small island full of hippies (I was one of them) the community decided to ban roadside spraying. They used to use a steam truck...it'd spray the roadside weeds with steam. That would kill them for a couple of weeks.
 
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