weed killer granules

[stayclean]

can anybody recommend a company that sells granule weed killer in large quantities which will stop or help prevent the growth of weeds between paving slabs. or recommend something else any help appreciated. thanks

 

[Deleted2797112]

Pathclear.

 

[Kaymo]

I recently got 5 litres of vinegar for about £2 from Costco and used it in my gravel driveway as an alternative to weed killer. I found that it worked as well as any commercial weed killer that l had used previously. Also heard that salt is effective but both only good for soil where you wont be planting afterward.

 

[Deleted2797112]

These methods are illegal.

 

[HERTS P&D]

I use a blow torch, it works very well.

Andy

 

[Kaymo]

Ceres, are you saying that using Vinegar is illegal? I am surprised at that as I would have thought the contents of vinegar would be more natural than chemical weedkiller?

 

[Deleted2797112]

Natural has nothing to do with it. When you apply vinegar or salt or any other home-brewed concoction, you're not using its 'natural' properties, you're using its chemical properties which interfere with the growing mechanism of the plant. That makes it a pesticide.

In the UK, all pesticides have to go through an approval and licensing process and its illegal to use anything as a pesticide that hasn't gone through that process. None of these home brews have approval as pesticides and they haven't undergone the testing for toxicity, bioaccumulation and mutagenicity. Their effect on wildlife, soil organisms, watercourses etc is unknown. Salt or vinegar will kill you in the correct dose - how do you know what you're doing to the land?

 

[Kaymo]

Ceres, thats an interesting way to look at it and is probably technically correct but in reality I doubt that its really a major problem. Agricultural grade Ascetic Acid is in common use and its essentially a much stronger version of vinegar. Salt is spread on the roads and driveways of the country in huge amounts every winter so is also going into the soil. I suspect that the only reason vinegar is not licensed is that there is no business case to get it licensed and I doubt it is in reality worse for the environment than something like Glyphosate.

I think your point about salt or vinegar killing you in the correct dose is a little moot, you could say that about anything.

 

[Deleted2797112]

Legally correct. Do you pick and choose which laws to comply with based on whether you 'approve' of them?

 

[Kaymo]

Ceres, I think you are taking this a bit too seriously. Spraying a bit of vinegar on a few weeds is hardly a crime in most normal peoples eyes. But to answer your question, yes I do, for example if the government passed a law that said I could eat eggs on Sundays but not on Tuesdays I would probably ignore it because it would be stupid.

 

[Deleted2797112]

Normal peoples' eyes aren't the issue (I guess you're implying I'm not notmal but I'll let that pass). The issue is what the law considers to be a criminal action and using an unlicensed pesticide is a criminal action. Your egg example isn't relevant - there is no such law.

 

[skotl]

OK, ceres, I'll jump in.

Which statute or law is broken by (to pick a specific example) me pouring vinegar on a plant in my garden?
Not that I am not proposing vinegar as a herbicide, nor am I selling it as such; so it would need to be a stature or law that specifically forbade me from pouring vinegar over a weed in my garden...

 

[Deleted2797112]

so it would need to be a stature or law that specifically forbade me from pouring vinegar over a weed in my garden...

No, it wouldn't. Assuming you mean statute. No idea what stature is in this context.

 

[Kaymo]

Ceres, I am not suggesting you are not normal, apologies if it came across like that. I am just saying that there are crimes that are serious and clear cut like murder and theft, and others that are less serious or grey areas. Whether you do 100mph or 32mph in a 30 zone you have broken the same law but most people would expect the 32mph case to be ignored.

Spreading 10 Tons of salt as a pesticide is an entirely different thing to sprinkling a teaspoon over a weed. Its not credible to say its ok to spread salt on a driveway in winter but not in summer.

 

[Deleted2797112]

You can argue that the law is inappropriate, that's your opinion. You can't argue that the law is grey in this area. It isn't. It's very clear. Use of an unapproved substance as a pesticide is a criminal offence.

I'm boring myself now so I'm leaving this. It's not the first time it's come up and I'm sure it won't be the last. There are though some very bizarre double standards in evidence on this forum.