Strimming My Weeds

[Ric.ror]

Should I string my weeds prior to applying weed killer - they are as high as an elephants eye
Also what weed killer is strongest - the soil will not be used after


TIA

[murraymints]

as long as you leave something for a systemic killer to touch..sadly sodium chlorate not available any longer thanks to EU ...GGGRR.. any of the gyp sulphates will do...

[murraymints]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_0_10?url=search-alias%3Doutdoor&field-keywords=weed+killer&sprefix=weedkiller%2Caps%2C170

[Ric.ror]

Isn't sodium chlorate just common old salt though?

[Old_Geezer]

I don't think we are allowed to use the strongest weed killers these days.

Whether you should chop the foliage first depends on the weedkiller you choose. I know my woman chopped down a load of green the other day, then sprayed what remained, and afterwards we discovered it entered via the leaves, so that would have been ineffective.

[Old_Geezer]

Sodium chloride is the condiment you have on your meal table.

[Chipchopper]

I think sodium chloride is salt

[murraymints]

http://www.landscapejuice.com/2014/08/amazon-selling-the-banned-weed-killer-sodium-chlorate.html

[murraymints]

you need to keep some leaf for systemics to work

[EDDIE51]

Sodium Chlorate can be used as an ingredient of bombs and illegal explosives.
It was / is extensively used by terrorists for bomb making. That is why it is banned , yet again the EU being blamed for something that has nothing to do with it!
Sodium Chloride is common salt.Similar name but VERY different in chemical action.

[EDDIE51]

As said weed killer works by being absorbed through the leaves, so the more / bigger the leaves the faster it will work.

[Old_Geezer]

Was that the first mention of the EU in the thread ?
Anything useful is banned.
Anyway it's not hard to make. A pain to make in sufficient quantity perhaps.

[EDDIE51]

O_G, the first reply at 07.35 stated that Sodium Chlorate, not available any longer ''thanks to EU''. Which is simply not true!

[murraymints]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chlorate


see trade names

[EDDIE51]

This is why Sodium Chlorate is banned NOTHING to do with the EU

That was just 250 gm ! Imagine what a couple of tonnes would do!
It was a favorite of the IRA !

[DTCwordfan]

I've got a Sodium chlorate down on the island in front here.....

[murraymints]

Eddie it has always been known to be an active ingredient in bombmaking..its use as weedkiller was withdrawn due to EU regs..see my link

[Old_Geezer]

Ah apologies, I totally missed the reference.
Whilst it makes things less easy, I'd have thought that a terrorist has incentive to make their own. Especially if a group of the barstewerds all do a bit. Gardeners can't be bothered.

[EDDIE51]

It is not banned 'thanks to the EU' !.It is banned is due to it being used as an explosive. The EU issued the ruling so it it applies throughout the EU. It is not just a 'pointless' rule made up by bureaucracy, it has a very real reason behind it. If the EU did not exist it would be banned by each individual country. If we were to leave the EU it would still be banned, just yet another regulation that we would have to make over again.

[murraymints]

nevertheless EU regs dictated it was withdrawn from sale in the uk...it is still available outwith EU

[EDDIE51]

O_G yes if a terrorist wanted some badly enough they could make it . But it needs an industrial scale manufacturing plant, and a supply of liquid Chlorine. Not as easy as just ordering a few Kg of weedkiller from your local garden center and mixing it with ordinary sugar. It is still made by the way. India makes thousands of tonnes of it a month. But due to EU rules we can not import it.