Whats the best Weed Killer these days please?

truewraith121

Or household item like vinegar i heard was good but havnt tried it. but we have major problems with weeds and once cut pr pulled they come back so fast so was looking for a better solution...


thanks

I_have_spoken

Ammonium sulphamate (if you live outside the EU )

Davesnave

You haven't said where these weeds are, so it's difficult to advise.

By their nature, total weedkillers kill everything, giving you a nice clear, dead area for more weeds to colonise!

In the good old days, people could chuck soil poisons like sodium chlorate around with gay (or straight) abandon, but these have been banned now in favour of substances that break down quickly in soil to become relatively innocuous. It's a sad old world!

PS. IHS is right about ammonium sulphamate. It's still legal as a compost accelerator, but some folks have terrible accidents on the way to the compost heap, resulting in spillages. Fortunately, these rarely catch fire, as it's also a flame retardant.

truewraith121

thanks i just looked up some info on the ammonium sulphamate you mentioned and said it was banned in EU in 2008 but like you said it can still be bought as a compost accelerator

hehe if we are leaving the EU does that still apply to us lol

Davesnave

It's when we leave the EU now, not 'if.'

But I don't know about the regs. It strikes me there won't be a free for all, and with good reason. Things will probably be "as you were" for a while.

However, it would be nice if men in grey suits didn't pass more legislation banning me from buying selective professional weedklillers to use on my fields, just because I haven't been on courses costing £1k and requiring frequent updates. Until November 2015 that was OK, but suddenly I'm not qualified to go out alone with a knapsack sprayer!:rotfl:

You haven't said what the weedkiller's for. It's important, because the answer to weeds depends on what you're trying to achieve. A big bare area isn't really a long term solution, unless it's a drive, for example.

truewraith121

oh sorry yeah its for driveway and flagged garden which once again is over run with weeds.

Davesnave

Well, a drive and paved areas won't take long using glyphosate and a good quality knapsack sprayer. The glyphosate takes up to 3 weeks to kill, so you won't see results immediately, but if you develop a routine, you'll catch the new weeds early and, eventually, lower the number of weed seeds waiting to germinate.

Generic glyphosate like this is fine:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosate-Strong-Glyphosate-Weedkiller-Gloves/dp/B00CBXKFLS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495043267&sr=8-1&keywords=rosate

A good back pack sprayer will be around £50 - £100 but should last years and it will be much easier and quicker than something you lug around by hand.

For drives and cracks in paving you could also consider other products as mentioned, but I prefer glyphosate because it disrupts the plant's metabolism after absoption and doesn't poison the soil, where it breaks down quickly.

glasgowdan

Spray with glyphosate and strim the dead weeds off 2-4 weeks later.

Mnd

Round up is glyphsolate and is readily available

Davesnave

Mnd wrote: »

Round up is glyphsolate and is readily available

If someone wants to pay for the trade name, yes, but this is MSE.

Niv

I prefer not to use chemicals where I can avoid it so I use a heat wand, works pretty well and is good fun too. You can target it very accurately too so if in-between plants you want to keep its better than a liquid weedkiller.