I haven't bought it yet, but have examined it recently - I'm disappointed because it appears to be in a container with holes in the top - what's disappointing is the width of the container at the top where the holes are. I wanted something narrower that I could dab on smaller leaves, something like the Weed Pen you could once buy, or the wax bar/stick which looked like a deodorant. I expect I shall go back and buy it because so far, I've come up blank with alternative gels or sticks...

I know that you're not supposed to do it but you can always mix a glyphosate-based weedkiller with wallpaper paste and use a small bush to paint the plant and there you are.

Bamboo, one of the things on my shopping list for the UK is one of those weed pens, but I'm alarmed at the phrase you use - "you once could buy..." Are they not available any more? Darn it! Gattina's third law of pigsoddery (sorry) - "If you find a REALLY useful (or even indispensable) product, or a foundation that matches your skin exactly, it'll be discontinued it within a year......" And probably in the name of "Better meeting customers' needs." I give up.

Oh, you've touched a chord there with me at least - it drives me to distraction, this business of constantly 'improving' stuff and innovating. I've lost count of the number of times shampoos, conditioners, foundations, lipsticks, body creams that really work have disappeared rather quickly off the market, and often the 'new and improved' version is poor in comparison. I suspect 'new and improved' should really read 'cheaper to produce' frankly. As for the weed pens, Google that and you get lots of info on ways to take dope...

Oh, then I shan't bother then,- I already know all about that.......:o)

Lol!

If something is not in stock in a shop, there seem to be two standard answers - "We've sold out" or "There was no demand so it's discontinued." Grrrrr

Yes, I love (not) that one about "no demand".

For 'no demand' read 'niche market'. The shampoo I liked was withdrawn because of no demand - just means they weren't selling zillions compared to the others. Manufacturers these days aren't in the business of catering for customers, just want to make money.

"Philanthropy" is a dirty word in the marketplace, same as "Kindness" and "respect" seem to be disappearing in a social context. Don't mind me, I'm a grumpy old reactionary.

I thought it was just me - it seems to happen all the time doesn't it? They've even discontinued support for the old Microsoft Word and foisted Word 7 on us which is so bossy you can't do what you want, only what they think you might want. It drives me bananas. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

I get round the 'niche market' thing by buying several of whatever it is at one time, so that I retain a stock of what suits me longer than it appears on the market - although, of course, it still eventually comes back to having to find something to take its place, but at least I get several months to a year to find an acceptable alternative. Seems manufacturers in my Mum and Dad's time when things lasted for years finally caught the 'greed bug!'

The trouble is, Nariz, that you don't know when they decide to pull the plug. When my Mum and Dad died, and we cleared out their house, we found stocks of brand new things up in their loft, which was PACKED. Lots of it was unuseable, most of it was very dated, and the stockpile of fabrics my Mum had was full of moth holes. I dread getting to be like that. The Gattina's second law of pigsoddery is, that if you buy enough wallpaper to decorate a room, something untoward will happen, you'll just need an extra roll to finish the last 11", and the batch number will be different when you go back to buy more, and it won't match. So when we moved, we always had rolls and rolls of wallpaper that we'd never use.

I'm guilty as charged - I have a tall cupboard in my bedroom chock a bloc with things that might disappear off the market - 4 bottles of conditioner, 4 of shampoo, etc. Fine when I was younger, but now I'm over 60, who knows then the final call will come - I could expire leaving what looks like superdrug in my bedroom... not to mention the button box with hundreds of buttons, and the odd bits of string. I get visions of my sons clearing the place out saying things like what the hell is this, and why on earth...

My grandparents had three spare beds in the loft when they died. Were they expecting more children?

Ha ha - fortunately, I have no loft, lord only knows what I'd have up there if I did.

Happily, we have no loft now either - apparently Spaniards are not into 'loft squirreling' so I have regular little 'chuck outs' to keep the tide of stuff at bay, but I still have - like you Bamboo - at least 6 bottles of shampoo and conditioner awaiting their turn, three pots of face cream, two (so far unworn) white T-shirts from M&S (you can never have too many white T-shirts! say the fashion gurus) and several unworn pairs of black socks. I'm taking a family-visit trip to Blighty soon and I bet I come back with more squirrely stuff! ;o)

Hi there I bought Roundup Gel Three weeks ago. I took a couple of hours dabbing dandelions and the weeds growing in my drive way. They are still there nothing has happened and nothing has changed. I did exactly as it says on the tub. I found this site while looking for an email for the manufacturers but nothing yet. Anyone any ideas? Thanks One rather disappointed Lady.

Oh no - I just bought this product but haven't tried it yet. Use twice as much and retreat immediately, Carrot. Certainly, glyphosate based products work much better when the weather is warmer and the plants are growing strongly... but in my experience with most 'through the green' weedkillers, they're very good at killing plants you want should you inadvertently get it on them, and not so good at killing the ones you don't...

MMmmm, sounds familiar. I have been (very carefully) spraying with glyphosate weedkiller the vast swathes of bindweed in my garden in the hope of eradicating it, because the roots go so deep there's no way you can successfully dig it out, and 2 weeks later, it looks healthier and happier than ever. I give up.

There's much better one out called Cut'n'Paste just google cut'n'paste weed gel. It's a much bigger bottle for about the same price and 12% glyphosate not 0.7%! and has a brush top not the little holes. It's got far more ooomph that the Roundup one but low toxicity. You can kill tree weeds with it too by painting the stumps and you can just pasts some leaves too. I've used it on all sorts of weeds and it's great

Since writing all that "miserable old git always moaning about something", I discovered the Italian version of glyphosate, which is about 5 times the strength of Roundup, and you just use it in increasing doses until you can hear the weeds squeaking. Sorted! It's only supposed to be sold to farmers, but these days, we are so scruffy and covered in muck, who can tell?

Lol Gattina!
Thanks for the tip about Cut'nPaste. Would rush out and get some but I just bought the Roundup gel (naughty words, naughty words...)
Haven't tried it yet.

As far as I can tell, CutnPaste is freely available in New Zealand,but not sold here. Some online suppliers say they supp;y to the UK, but I didn't check the prices.

Botheration!

Indeed - I fancy trying it myself...