Another interesting Roundup study...

[Potstubsdustbins]

I used to use it in spray form for patio weeds etc, growing in containers I never have any other kind of weed problem.

However last year I tried out the touch gel stuff and now use that all the time. No wind blown spray highly selective, and very effective.

Potty

[Sheneval]

BertieFox: "And I would certainly never use it on the vegetable plot as Monsanto's own research has shown it does NOT 'break down in the soil' immediately but can remain something that impacts on certain crops for at least a year."

Accordig to Indpendent Scientific research the impact is not that it spoils the crops but that is absorbed by them and thus gets into the food chain

As I said previously if you google 'why glysophate should be banned' you will be able to see the report produced late last year.

Needless to say Monsanto refute the findings ...

I shall be asking the Committee to ban the use of this product on the site - I have just spent 7 weeks proving you can dig out weeds, particularly docks by hand - no doubt some will grow again but far better that than to poison the grandkids.

[Thelma Sanders]

Not everybody has the time to clear by hand.

Personally I'd be very cross if someone started trying to tell me how I should manage my plot - what I could use/do and what I couldn't.

I leave them to do what they want and expect the same treatment in return.

Unless your whole site is likeminded, you could become very unpopular................

[SarzWix]

Not everybody has the patience to clear by hand. Not the same thing at all

[Leif]

I don't have any problem using the stuff to clear pernicious weeds where food is not grown. It clears the hedge bindweed that comes over from my neighbours, which I cannot dig out. I stick a metre or two in an old bottle with glyphosate. But I prefer not to use it beyond the first clearing, except lightly. I was chatting with my neighbour today, she is a landscape gardener, and she happily uses it. Small scale domestic use of dilute spray is harmless. The issue seems to be large scale industrial farming use, and crops that tolerate it allowing greater and more frequent use.

The problem is finding reliable information. There is so much that is propaganda by activists with a clear bias. For example Dr. Mercola, linked to earlier in this thread, has questionable business practices according to Wikipedia, and I would not trust the site. He is selling his own product, no less than Monsanto. Without knowing details of studies, and those carrying them out, it is impossible to comment.

And as others have said, organic farming would not be practical with the current population, and our lifestyles. In the thirteenth century most people worked the land, usually that owned by the lord of the manor.

Organic practices allow use of Pyrethrum which is toxic, and used to allow Derris which is also toxic.

[Two_Sheds]

Personally I'd be very cross if someone started trying to tell me how I should manage my plot - what I could use/do and what I couldn't.

They already do. You will have rules about what livestock you can keep? What size and number of buildings you can have?

One year I lost half my plot to somebody's careless spraying of glypho, and I know for a fact that people don't read the label, and don't follow instructions. I'd be happy for greater control of it

The school's professional gardener (before me) sprayed it all over our Wildlife Garden ~ then immediately cut all the topgrowth off with a strimmer

doh !

[Potstubsdustbins]

2Sheds do you think you may just be better off controlling the idiots like the one who ruined your plot?

If they are that stupid/ignorant they will only find something else to mess about with that will cause you problems.

Potty

[binley100]

Aah but the trouble is Potty that ny old idiot can get hold of weedkiller and spray it ........

[Potstubsdustbins]

Binners I agree with you but they will almost always find something else to make one's life a misery and we can't ban everything.

Potty

[VirginVegGrower]

Dig the perennials out [dock, dandilion etc]
Hoe the annuals off and leave on the soil.

Then cover with cardboard.

If you want to sow carrots and parsnips; just clear an area for them which is weed free.

Most other stuff can be grown by making a hole in the cardboard, planting, filling the hole up with soil, watering and then putting some cardboard back round the hole.

I vote this girl for Gardening Guru end of. Doesn't preach. Stands by her beliefs in a kind way.
I have proffered your advice to two new mum allotment holders on our site who have had nasty letters from the PC. They are undertaking your cardboard muck/mulch advice and had never heard of it.

On weedkillers. If I wouldn't lick it straight off a spoon, I wouldn't spray it on my veg. Actually not strictly true...I don't drink comfrey or seaweed

Seriously nice response mate x

[Two_Sheds]

Aah but the trouble is Potty that ny old idiot can get hold of weedkiller and spray it ........

Exactly.

Both the examples I gave were professional, ie paid, gardeners. They do this stuff for a living, and if they can't be trusted to read labels and follow advice, what hope is there for the Average Joe (or Jill) ?

[bearded bloke]

And it continues this like the use of peat,it is a subject that will never be concluded to the satisfaction of all interested parties.

Surveys/statistics on ANY subject can be made to support the interests of the party doing/paying for the said survey.
A case in point would be the wearing of motorcycle crash helmets,in some states in America they are compulsory because statistics prove that lives are saved by the reduction in skull injuries,in other states statistics prove that crash helmets kill because they can cause neck injuries that otherwise would not have occurred,so they are optional.

[zazen999]

And it continues this like the use of peat,it is a subject that will never be concluded to the satisfaction of all interested parties.

Surveys/statistics on ANY subject can be made to support the interests of the party doing/paying for the said survey.
A case in point would be the wearing of motorcycle crash helmets,in some states in America they are compulsory because statistics prove that lives are saved by the reduction in skull injuries,in other states statistics prove that crash helmets kill because they can cause neck injuries that otherwise would not have occurred,so they are optional.

Of course they will. Doesn't mean that because 'the man' says to do something everyone should lie down and take it. They said smoking was safe...actively encouraged it but it was only when the cost of the medical treatment rose above the income from taxes they decided to do something...to make it look as if they were doing something...whilst still collecting taxes.

[bearded bloke]

Ok then,as of this moment there is a global ban on the manufacture (& the use of remaining stock) of all man made herbicides & pesticides,how will you guarantee the continued production of enough foodstuff to feed the ever-growing global population ?

[zazen999]

Ok then,as of this moment there is a global ban on the manufacture (& the use of remaining stock) of all man made herbicides & pesticides,how will you guarantee the continued production of enough foodstuff to feed the ever-growing global population ?

Is it my job to guarantee the production of the world's food?

Can't I finish this job first