Bind weed

[openspaceman]

15 hours ago, Gavint said:

  Glyphosate is the usual go to as it's the safest,

Debateable

[GarethM]

I'd be more worried about the washing powder than the weedkiller.

 

Most of the glyphosate in European rivers may not come from farming, researchers suggest

PHYS.ORG

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A research team at the University of Tübingen has found that most glyphosate that ends up in European rivers likely...

 

 

[peds]

4 minutes ago, GarethM said:

I'd be more worried about the washing powder than the weedkiller.

 

Doesn't help when idiots scatter it all over their driveways to kill moss, either.

[GarethM]

34 minutes ago, peds said:

Doesn't help when idiots scatter it all over their driveways to kill moss, either.

Sodium hypochlorite it's much more effective.

 

And Dave doing his driveway once in a blue moon compared to three times a week washing types.

 

A bit of weedkiller isn't the end of the world in comparison.

Edited September 22 by GarethM

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, GarethM said:

I'd be more worried about the washing powder than the weedkiller.

That article seems somewhat flawed:

 

On the one hand we know glyphosate is inactivated soon after it hits a target plant or the soil.

 

On the other they claim to find it post a sewage treatment plant.

 

My concern is that they are confusing the original chemical with its metabolites, which apparently are common with those of some washing powders.

 

 

As it has got cheaper farming has grown more addicted to it.

 

I know we mustn't conflate cause and effect but much of the decline in insects seems to date from about the time modern herbicides came into use in the 70s, especially for no till crops of wheat and the OSR break crop.

[GarethM]

Well, it's obviously going to be it metabolic variants as farming doesn't really output into the local sewage system.

 

Plus chemically a metabolic is just as bad as it not ?. Same with chlorine, chloramine, bromine etc as they do funky things to the atmosphere.

 

In all honesty the levels of agri weed killers and sprays are so small it's laughable, can't remember the ratio per acre but with the cost of 360/480 and diesel it ain't being wasted.

Edited September 22 by GarethM

[nepia]

2 hours ago, GarethM said:

In all honesty the levels of agri weed killers and sprays are so small it's laughable

Not sure that's how the insects see it

 

Not having a pop; we ask farmers to grow food for us so they do.  Some laxity is therefore needed when there is collateral damage but benefit of experience now suggests that we need to rein in our use of biocides

[GarethM]

9 minutes ago, nepia said:

Not sure that's how the insects see it

 

Not having a pop; we ask farmers to grow food for us so they do.  Some laxity is therefore needed when there is collateral damage but benefit of experience now suggests that we need to rein in our use of biocides

Erm, shifting the goalposts there.

 

From weedkiller to insecticide then to biocide.

They were trying to rely more on seed dressings than regular spraying, that got a knocking back.

 

Even though it was short term whilst the plant was most vulnerable, so now they want you spraying more to sterilise the soil effectively.

[Gavint]

5 hours ago, openspaceman said:

Debateable

Which systemic herbicide do you know of that is safer?  I'd totally be interested.

[openspaceman]

35 minutes ago, Gavint said:

Which systemic herbicide do you know of that is safer?  I'd totally be interested.

Depending what one means by safe, probably none in environmental terms.