By Beekeeper
IS WEEDOL HARMFUL TO VEGETABLE GARDEN WORMS AND INVERTEBRATES GENERALLY?
- 25 Oct, 2012
Answers
Totally agree with what Bertie has written.
25 Oct, 2012
I would substitute a strong solution of vinegar--about 1 part vinegar to 15 parts water--which will kill the leaves and young stems of weeds, like diquat would, with much more benign effects on the soil and its organisms. At worst, vinegar might require more liming in acidic soils.
27 Oct, 2012
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As Weedol contains both diquat and paraquat, both of which are lethal to human beings, and pets, I can't imagine it does any living thing much good. When it was widely used to spray the Marijuana fields in Mexico many people ended up with serious breathing problems and other diseases.
While I have used Roundup (glyphosate) on paths and drive areas, I would never dream of using that either on vegetable areas... and new evidence is now emerging that Roundup is not the 'harmless' weedkiller boasted of by Monsanto, and is NOT deactivated on contact with the soil, as their own advice admits.
If you find hand weeding your vegetables too difficult or time consuming, try converting your plot into manageable small beds (say a yard square) That makes it easy to do a section at a time. Also get into the habit of mulching deeply around the larger plants like cabbages and sprouts and the base of bean and tomato plants etc. That way there will be less weeding and those that do come through can be easily hand pulled.
25 Oct, 2012