Grow Your Own Magazine

Is glyphosate the best thing to get rid of bind weed as it didn't do much to mine, i mixed it really strong and gave it two sprays but it still lives on. the roots go down miles and can't dig every bit out as its so deep. Ilove my plot but this (also mares tail) gets me down, all the time i have down there is spent dugging out the weeds. has anyone got any ideas please. HELP

HI Izzy,

I have not found any miracle cure's I too have bind weed and mares tail to name a few. I have been removing as much of it as I can and each year there seems to be less.

I think it just needs to kept on top off, if you are not using all of your plot why not cover some of it which will help kill off some of it.

If there is a quick fix, I would love to know...

P.S. Welcome to the vine, Mandy

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You don't happen to live near me do you? We seem to have a particularly bad problem round here. That (and couch grass) is the bain of my life in the garden. I've found it responds to glyphosate in the short term, but, as you say, the roots go down a fair way and it always seems to regenerate. I think digging is the only solution; my neighbour said they had a bad problem with it, and he just kept digging away at it until it was no more. The problem with digging (well, one of them) is that if it's growing around other plants it's much trickier to get at the roots, without damaging the plants you do want to keep.
What I have used is Path Clear on the drive for general weeds, of which there were a couple of bind weeds growing. That was 3 months back and it hasn't come back yet. The problem with that is that you're not supposed to use it where you actually want to grow stuff: it recommends an area watered with PathClear to stay plant free for 6 months or more, which on an allotment may not be practical. Still, you could give it a go a bit at a time, reducing your growing space a little, but testing it out, and, if it works, gradually working across the larger area. Might try that myself actually!

IZZY
If your mix is stronger than the recomended dosage all you will succeed in doing is burning off the leaves before it has time to perculate down to the roots that is why the companies have spent a fortune and many year working out the optimum dose. I spray bindweed it takes about a fortnight to keel over and I have no regrowth using the right strength mix.
MANDY
Deep Root works on Marestail, keep a spray handy and give a squirt to any that shows its face.

Please don't make the mix any stronger or weaker than recommended. I agree with PaulW - glyphosate needs to be absorbed by the plants to work properly. If you only manage to burn off the leaves and not kill the roots you have completely wasted your money. I use glyphosate when I have to, but regular digging/pulling really does help. Good luck.

Put the Glyphosate liquid in a bottle and push the end of the bind weed into the liquid.The bindweed takes up the glyphosate and self destructs. I heard that tip on GQT a few years ago but I've not had occasion to try it myself.

Just wondered then..........if glyphosate doesn't work well when it's applied neat how come CDA is being used more frequently?

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I only mixed the Glyphosate stronger because there are stronger versions on the market that i can't get hold of and thought a stronger mix would make the same thing. I'll try again, i do keep digging but it was a very overgrown plot when i took it on and would like to grow some veg that doesn't get covered in bind weed in the next year. What is CDA?

3 years on and I still have bindweed, BUT it is considerably weaker and much reduced in both vigour and quantity. I just pull it up as i see it. Nothing will survive complete defoliation forever ... I hope.

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I had a real problem with Bind Weed and have spent the last 2 years digging it and its roots up and it's worked a treat don't have much of a problem at all this year. So try that instead of the chemical. Good luck.

Bindweed roots are full of good stuff, so don't waste them...drown in a bucket of water, then add to compost heap. It does stink though, and keep a lid on to stop flies laying eggs in it

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Constant Droplet Application izzy.

Instead of mixing your weedkiller concentrate with water it is applied neat with a battery operated spreader. The battery pumps the liquid in very small dozes down a lance onto a spinner which applies the micro droplets neat!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Is bindweed actually useful for anything? I know you can make sort of coffee from dandelion roots (don't fancy it myself), but can you use bindweek roots in the same way, does anyone know.

Do you add the drowned roots to the compost heap or just the liquor?

The whole lot, just tip it on. The roots must be well-drowned though, or they could regrow. I leave mine at least a month

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

CDA! sounds interesting-is it fiddly and Expensive? Rustylady is right: Overstrength normal spraying will just scorch it. Digging it out and never letting it seed works best in the long run but this is definately easier if you have some Mypex to weaken it first. I grew a lot of crops through it and covered spare beds for the first few years- definately made the initial task less overwhelming

I'm not sure about plastic bottles, but when it pops up in permanant beds- rasberries asparagus etc. -where digging is impossible. You might try growing it up a cane then pulling out the cane, stuffing the plant in a plastic bag and spraying into that. Then laccy band it and leave it. It just keeps the stuff in contact with the weed and avoids drift problems. This method will also work for Horse's A*se.(as we like to know it) but you need to first rub it between a couple of stones to break the waxy coating that impedes the take up.

Is 'Pathclear' a trade name for sodium chlorate? I'm not sure about using anything that persists that long in the soil where I Grow my food.

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Paul

I don't use chemicals at all. My garden was overrun with bindweed when I bought the house, but is now fairly clear. Look out for it in early spring - you'll soon tune your eyes in to the tell-tale shoots. Pull each shoot up very gently, digging down with your fingers to get as much root as you can. This is easir after heavy rain. In spring, some will come out with a dead, brown end - hooray! Got that one! Others will snap off. Keep at it, pulling up every little shoot, and put it in your green-waste bin if your council supplies one, or rot down in a plastic bag before composting. It IS possible to stay on top of it this way, but if your garden is big enough, and you have a wild area, leave some to grow - the flowers are beautiful.

PAULOTTIE
A replacement product called Pathclear 3 has just been introduced for those people who don't have any stock to use up. This is available from the shelves of all gardening retailers right now. The new and improved formula of amitrole, 2,4-D and diuron will kill weeds and roots of even deep-rooted weeds and prevents further weed germination for up to 12 months. A much improved product that remains effective for much longer.

We're hiring a flame gun thing and burning our bind weed, couch grass and mares tail....

I shall really, really enjoy it

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this may help it worked for me before you spray crunch as many leaves as you can in your hand then spray it breaks up the surface of the leaf allowing the weed killer to penetrate into the plant and get down to the roots a lot quicker