Glyphosphate

bouicca21

When I broached doing something about the communal garden with my neighbours a couple said they wanted to take over bits of it. They have of course done nothing to clear these areas. They have some bramble - not so far growing very strongly, and loads of ivy.

One of these bits immediately adjoins the area I have cleared but as it is behind a tree I can't see much of it from my property. I'm not particularly bothered about planting it, though I would if the neighbours wanted me to, but I am bothered about the bramble and ivy spreading back my way. I am inclined therefore to spray the area with a glyphosphate weed killer, and repeat the spray later in the year.

I know glyphosphate is inert on contact with soil, but if I use it on the bramble does it remain in the plant and thus make any berries toxic? No one in the past showed any interest in harvesting the berries but you can never be sure and I don't want to poison anyone.

Mojisola

bouicca21 wrote: »

I know glyphosphate is inert on contact with soil, but if I use it on the bramble does it remain in the plant and thus make any berries toxic? No one in the past showed any interest in harvesting the berries but you can never be sure and I don't want to poison anyone.

If you kill of the plants with weedkiller, how are you going to get berries that people might eat?

bouicca21

Well I somehow doubt that spraying a couple of times will kill the wretched stuff, only weaken it.

Mojisola

bouicca21 wrote: »

Well I somehow doubt that spraying a couple of times will kill the wretched stuff, only weaken it.

If you apply glyphosate properly, it should kill off the entire plant, roots and all.

DaftyDuck

You may need to spray two, three, or even four times for pernicious brambles and ivy and, even then it may come back next year as new growth. But, combined with a little light physical weeding, it will control it.

Nobody will get poisoning, die of cancer, or otherwise pass away.

Now is a good time to hit it. Spray lightly until foliage is soaked, then let it dry and respray a few hours later. No point drenching, as it's the amount on the leaves that counts, so run off is wasted. It will then die back over a month or so, and can be cut right back. Wait until there's some new growth, and spray again.

Davesnave

Mojisola wrote: »

If you apply glyphosate properly, it should kill off the entire plant, roots and all.

While this is right, it might take as much as 3 years to see it off completely.* However, in the meantime, it will be too ill to produce fruit!

Glyphosate doesn't poison in the same way as older, now banned, weedkillers. It is taken up and passes around inside the plant, but its chief effect is to inhibit part of the photosynthesis process, effectively starving it of nutrients. this a why it takes a relatively long time to show an effect.

There have been cancer scares recently related to glyphosate, because using it could increase the risk if one was careless and ingested it or breathed in the spray. However, the amount of risk is small enough to compare with that from eating barbecued food. In other words, like any other chemical product .e.g. toilet cleaner, a bit of common sense is all that's required.

* Personal experience with very well established plants, but after Year 1 we are talking weak little things, struggling out of the ground in random places.

EDIT: That will teach me to go off and make a pot of tea. Dafty got here while I was brewing-up, but at least we agree!

bouicca21

So I should cut the bramble back, pull out as much as I can and then spray? Or will more poison get to the roots if I spray what's there (which obviously will have more leaves).

Davesnave

Don't cut back. Spray as much leaf as you can, as soon as the leaves have unfurled properly, or you can paint the solution on if spraying is difficult.

glasgowdan

Nobody will be picking berries...if you spray now the brambles will be withered away by August. After a week you'll see them starting to die.

moneyistooshorttomention

I'm an organic gardener and health-conscious and wouldnt dream of using glyphosate personally.

Bear in mind its a communal garden and that means everyone has to agree about things. That being the case - if even one of the "owners" won't use glyphosate - then no-one can.

A decision like "organic or no" HAS to be run past everyone sharing the use of that garden. Yes I know...I know...it doesnt make life easy to run a communal thing of any description (tell me about it - as I'm a firm believer in communal things being run communally - rather than just by one person - even if I'm the one person concerned). It's been assumed I'm "in charge" of something communal before now - and people were promptly put right that we ALL make the decisions <headache smilie>

Bear in mind that there are people around (puts hand up and waves) that will automatically assume that OF COURSE everything is done organically - and we would just go ahead and eat any part of an edible plant we fancied (and..yep...that does include the leaves of blackberry plants) and then turn round and scream blue murder if someone had made us ill by spraying chemicals on it. (Remembers recently picking some nearby nettles and then feeling more than a little concerned when I subsequently realised they had been poisoned by glyphosate - and I'd just eaten some and trying to work out when person concerned would have done that to them.....). Guess the timing was okay - and they must have realised from the fact that half the town hasnt been told they made me ill.....

glasgowdan

Stop preaching at us...it's your belief. Would a veggie expect their neighbours to ask you if they can have a bbq in case the smell offends them?

I spray at least 25 litres of concentrated glyphosate a year, that's around 1000 litres of spray. I'd never dream of asking my clients neighbours or other communal garden owners if I am 'allowed' to do so first!