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Re: Roundup information

Andrew Bennett wrote:

>On 9 Jun 1997 06:35:27 GMT, iaotb@inet.uni-c.dk (Torsten Brinch) wrote:

>>It is essential to note (almost to banality) that Roundup can harm
>>green plants. You _have_ to be able to spray comfortably before leaves
>>develop on your grapevines; otherwise even small amounts of spray 
>>drift can stunt the growth and weaken the plants towards pest
>>attacks for a long time. 

>Absolutly true. This is the main reason I have held off
>for ten years. I am experimenting with a "Vogel's
>wick weeder" on part of the vineyard, the rest being
>chemical free. First results indicate near perfect 
>precision with a total absence of damege outside the
>ares actually wiped. No drips. No drift. At least,
>that gets around one of "Treeman's" points. Actually,
>several - none of the horrid stuff gets near a fish.

Yes I have heard rumours of the wick type applicator. It
surely must minimizes non-target effects. 
Some kind of magic wand, huh? 
Everything green you touch, turn golden :-)

Roundup can be used to eliminate specific target plants 
(deep rooted perennial weeds evidently) to facilitate the 
takeover by some other desired vegetation. I have myself used
a few milliliters of a 0.3 % glyphosate solution for such 
topical treatment a few years ago. I wouldn't say it helped 
me, but it was fun. It is strong stuff!


>>If I remember correctly, you have a problem with keeping a reasonable
>>humus content in your soil. But Roundup will not help you doing this,
>>I assume?
>But that's the whole point! It's called "no-till" or
>"low-till." There's lots about it on the web and elsewhere.
>The only legitimate reason I can find for using herbicides
>is that you might be able to get away without tilling.
>Tilling destroys the organic content of soil by exposing
>it to the air - even with mulch and manure, my tilling
>is slowly but steadily reducing the measured organic 
>content. If I can get away without tilling, I hope to be
>able to keep ahead of the loss of organics and end up
>with a healthier soil. And less erosion.

It is impossible to comment on your situation without
knowing it in great detail. Loss of organics, ah well,
as long as there is something left, no cause for panic.
healthier soil -- well _is_ your soil unhealthy?
Soil erosion is an alarming word. It alerts of unfertile
soil. And call for management changes.

I wonder if your estimated current loss  
at organic material (I saw 40 tons/hectare/year in one 
of your other posts) could be even remotely balanced by any 
effect of no-till.  
What are you actually growing on that roundup-treated no-till
soil? It's got to be something that produces a lot of
biomass! Do you have animals? 


Best regards,

Torsten Brinch

--
Torsten Brinch - Risboege, 6640, Denmark - e-mail: iaotb@inet.uni-c.dk      
http://inet.uni-c.dk/~iaotb/            IAO Agrochemical Pages Denmark
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