Neat method!

Don't worry about it getting into the soil as it doesn't do anything in the soil other than degrade. It won't kill any plants unless the herbicide contacts the leaf. Not saying to just dump the stuff on the soil either, but the drop or two that gets on the soil isn't going to harm surrounding plants.

As far as the amount required to kill a plant it largely depends on the plant. It translocates from the leaves to the roots, kills the roots and then the plant dies.

If you are dealing with a weed that has an extensive root system and can come back from just a small portion of root then more is going to be required than for a plant with a smaller root system that doesn't easily regrow from small portions of roots. Nothing a little experimentation won't teach you ;-)

I'm not sure it will work very well, or that it won't for that matter. With RoundUp you always want to get as much surface area coverage as possible for best results. If I were me, I'd use a small spray bottle instead of this dropper. But I'd be interested in knowing how it turns out.
Another thing I've done to prevent overspray is to fashion a piece of cardboard into a tube, hold that over the victim, and spray down the tube.

tcstoehr

I have been using this method since August of last year. It works.

CRAzY LaRrY

I've found another fairly easy method -- buy one of the dishsoap dispenser/scrubber pad gizmos they sell at the grocery store for about $2.00 -- the kind where you fill the handle with dishsoap, and it oozes out through the sponge pad at the bottom. Just fill this with Roundup, tape it to a long pole, and wipe and dab the weeds you want to kill. It does have to be refilled fairly often, since it only holds a few ounces, but it's a very controlled way to work around perennials, etc., without worry about overspray, drift, etc.

Another method. Wear a cotton glove over a rubber glove. Then dip your glove(s) covered hand in Round Up and apply it to the weed.

Zeuspaul

One more method. Those sponge paintbrushes that are different widths. Dip into a coffee can of RoundUp and paint the weeds. Wear rubber gloves to be safe.

tcstoehr

I like your idea, and a length of 3" PVC pipe might work even better as a spray-director than a cardboard tube. Reusable and with a 3-ft. length there would be less stooping/bending.

lol on the PVC pipe...maybe I could afix that to my sprayer.But this would still leave a dead patch the size of the tube. Twould make for an ugly yard for a month or so. Maybe we could do this in a pattern and tell the neighbors that its a new game?

CrAzY LaRrY

CL

Fairy crop circles or small UFO landing sites?

I bought a 2-foot length of 2" PVC today at HD, so the bare circles won't be quite as large as with the 3" size. I've got a sprayer with a wand, so it should work pretty well.

OK, something else which works well with a small, hand pumped sprayer with a wand (the 2-3 gallon size sprayers).

I take a clear plastic container (the kind that comes from the deli or that fruitcake mix comes in) either pint or quart size, make a small hole in the center of the bottom, and slip this over the end of the sprayer (take off the little tip of the wand so the hole is smaller).

With the clear plastic container, just slip it down in place below the level of the nozzle tip, press it down around the weed, and spray -- a completely contained spray, and you can still see what you are doing this way.

You can also use a cottage cheese or sour cream container, but it's not as nice, since it's not transparent.

All great thougts. I need a 1/2" diameter tube. That would be just big enough to get my nossle into and still control the spray.

CrAzY LaRrY

UFO's Yes...we should claim that....no faires ( well no live ones anyway) are allowed in my yard..lol..

CrAzY LaRrY

I never use Round-Up. That stuff scares me. :(

If you want to improve Round Up's efficacy you'll want to apply a water soluable fertilizer a couple of days prior to treating with RU. The fert gets the target weed making and taking up sugars. If you're trying to get rid of woody vines like poison ivy etal then add some triclopyr (brush-b-gone) to the RU solution as well.

Bob

I used the roundup to kill half of my yard last year. The bermuda had to go before is crossed past the zoysia and into my garden beds,

All of this is just leftovers from that application. I find it easier to kill single weeds than dig them out and leave a bare spot. I tried it on some Ivy and it seems to have slowed it down :) It does kill off the wild pansy and the quack grass real nicely.

CrAzY LaRrY

RoundUp is some really really really great stuff...too bad it's main parent company does some questionable stuff with the knowledge of it's use.

Nonetheless, as far as wide spectrum herbicides that dissipate quickly in the soil with few environmental side effects...it's hard to beat.

Well it is certainly safer to use than Triple Strike. I read that warning info. and " just said no"

CrAzY LaRrY

Sometimes using the most lethal (to plants) herbicide is more environmentally friendly than using a less toxic (to plants) herbicide that needs to be applied 6 times to work.

I agree that Monsanto is an Evil company (notice the capitalization of the E for emphasis), but the product itself is among the best out there when one wants a plant dead with little environmental impact.

Sad, but reality.

I have to agree just....it is much easier than digging..and with a controlled spray...I can select plants instead of an area....

CrAzY LaRrY

I did an experiment.

I had a border where nothing was growing except a dozen weeds about a foot tall. I covered a weed with bucket and exposed one branch of leaves, spritzed the exposed leaves with some weedkiller.

About half were treated this way and within 24 to 48 hours each weed so treated showed signs of eminant demise.

The method shows prospects of selective weed killing using much less weedkiller than just spraying the whole plant.

And I found my best way to kill weeds growing close to my vegetables. I took a box that was about 4 feet tall and 2 feet square and removed the 2-foot square top and bottom, though any size will do if it's deep enough. Then out to the garden with my box and RoundUp sprayer. I set the box right up next to my corn patch and sprayed the weeds at the bottom of the box. You can drench them well and not worry about herbicide drift. Then moved it to the next weedy spot. Just be careful not to spray tall weeds that can lean or brush against your vegetables when you shift the box elsewhere.

What a timely post. This morning I declared war on Virginia Creeper, it's not exactly in my veg.garden (yet!)but it's moving in everywhere else. I searched on the web for tips and someone suggested finding a really big root of it, breaking it until the fleshy part is revealed, then spray that Round Up right into it. I did this at least four times a couple of hours ago, besides spraying the leaves and new growth of a huge patch nearly covering the brush pile and hand pulling as much as I could in other areas. We're only suppose to have two non-rain days this week - today and tomorrow, so I hope there's been enough damage done to see some results. Just wish the temp would have been like 80 today,that would have helped.

Larry where did you get the tiny bottle and the small hose to attach. I like your method. You can use roundup with less water to make it stronger and use so little it looks like the perfect way to go.

way to go larry,

you gotta do what ya gotta do hey?

won't promote any brands as i don't support the wholesale ues of the stuff, but we use glypho mostly for the control of nutgrass that may pop up in other than garden areas (never get it in our raised beds as we use lots of newspaper down first), if it pops up in the lawn it is then just another grass.

we use the cut the top off and dob on some neat glypho' works well for us. another angle like your would be to have you mix in a small can with a cord so you can dangle it down near ground level (this saves bending and stooping) then tie a little bit of cloth to the end of a long enough stick so you can soak it in the mix then when you get the weed dob a bit of mix on like painting a house or something? they sell a thing called a weed wick over here similar process.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

dangould....The bottle is a solvent applicator used by the plastic industry to apply water thin solvents to bond plastic together. Plastic distributors would sell them. A regular hypo needle would do the same thing and is probably available at a drug store. ( pure guess)

This method has almost wiped out my dreaded collection of wild violets. :)

I have also tried the stir drink straws....very small opening..not quit as much control there...you need to be close to your work....dip the straw and fill it..cover the top end with your finger..put in place and release...

Being a plastic guy I have used clear sheets of plastic to cook areas. Works well when it is nice and hot. A piece of sheet metal will also work.

Great thought Albert.

Good call Annie..I have some old cheap black plastic pots. I could cut out the bottom and make a shield from that so I could use my sprayer in larger areas.

Yeah Gardenlen....another good way to safely apply this stuff.

CrAzY LaRrY

thanks larry. You are a good creative guy. keep up the good work.