Pesticide question

[kelleyville]

Two of my neighbors have yard work done every year and that yard work includes the use of brush-b-gone type chemicals. Will these spread like round up and drift into my vegetables? If so does anyone know of something I can suggest they use instead? The biggest culprit is kudzu, and I keep telling them that they cannot kill it! It comes back every year no matter what they spray it with! Just trying to avert a disaster! And if I can kill the kudzu kindly myself then they won't have to!

Thanks in advance!
Kelley

[feldon30]

If they use it, it can certainly drift and kill your vegetable garden. I would encourage them not to use it and suggest that if you experience any damage in your garden as a result of their use of herbicides, you will take the appropriate steps.

Herbicide damage is very obvious and you'll know it when you see it. Crinkling and curling inward of malformed leaves.

[kelleyville]

I am wondering if that is what is wrong with most of these flowerpot tomatoes! Including the ones I am taking care of for the neighbors! So far in all my searching the only way I see to kill kudzu is to cut it out at the crown! Next time I see the people who take care of thier lawn I am going out to have a word with them! Still searching for an easier safer way to just kill it though!

[Ruth_10]

I attended a talk by an arborist the other day and he suggested the best (and only) way to kill kudzu is to cut it off at ground level and use a paint brush to apply full or half-strength Round-Up to the "stump" immediately after cutting. Applied that way, it will get into the root system and kill it.

[kelleyville]

Ruth
Does applying it with a paint brush prevent all drift, does drift only occur with spraying? Thanks for that info!

Kelley

[the999bbq]

suggest that if you experience any damage in your garden as a result of their use of herbicides, you will take the appropriate steps.

hmm, next thing you know you have neighbours shooting each other ;-) Your alternative product should be good than, the neighbour typically is one of the 'easy gardening' type : spray to kill all (round up like); fertalise to feed all (chemical feeds) ...

[elkwc36]

If applied properly Round up don't drift. And I've used it and been around it for many years and had lots of experience with it. I've used it right next to plants as experiments after reading many of the remarks on these boards about it. Have never killed anything I didn't directly spray it on. Yes if they spray and there is a strong wind it could drift. But that is with every chemical. Round up and 2,4-D Amine are two that don't drift and won't vaporize and drift and kill like some. This is my experience from what I've been taught, read and many years of actual use. Jay

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by the999bbq

suggest that if you experience any damage in your garden as a result of their use of herbicides, you will take the appropriate steps.

hmm, next thing you know you have neighbours shooting each other ;-) Your alternative product should be good than, the neighbour typically is one of the 'easy gardening' type : spray to kill all (round up like); fertalise to feed all (chemical feeds) ...

If a neighbor causes monetary damage to my property, I will submit an invoice. Nothing more, nothing less. No threat of violence, just a matter-of-fact business transaction. Gardening ain't cheap, either in money or effort.

[elkwc36]

Feldon,
I agree with you that if a person suffers damages he should be able to recover. But from my extensive experience if Round up is correctly applied I have never seen damage. And I've seen it stated several times on forums that Round up drifts. And I've never found this to be true unless used with a boom sprayer in high winds. That is why it, 2,4-D Amine and Tri-mec are three chemicals used alot around premises ect.. They work and are relative safe. Sometimes people have trouble with plants and if a neighbor has sprayed it is easy to blame them. These are just my opinions from many years of use. Jay

[Tomatovator]

I doubt that one could prove any sort of case against a neighbor for using a chemical on their own property. If it drifts onto your property it would be the fault of the wind. Now if they were to intentionally spray your plants with it that would be a different story. Say I fertilize my lawn and my neighbor above me does too at the same time. It then rains and as a result his fertilizer washes into my lawn. My lawn gets too much fertilizer . It turns brown. I don't think I can hold him reponsible for it raining that day. Seems like the same reasoning would apply here. If your neighbors are using chemicals that could damage your plants it seems to me that you should cover your plants or in some way protect them from the overspray when they are using it (that's what I do). Your neighbors should not have to live with weeds they don't want or to modify their method of controlling them. Sending them a bill for damages would just create hard feelings. If push came to shove I doubt you could make a winnable case against them anyway. Just my 2 cents.

[dcarch]

Not a big deal.

The title of this thread should be "Herbicide"

dcarch

[Lee]

Sending them a bill for damages would just create hard feelings.

Agreed 100%.

if Round up is correctly applied I have never seen damage.

I would also agree 100% with this as the directions indicate not spraying in
high winds.....

However, the definition of "drift" may be different here. On a breezy spring afternoon my neighbor was spraying 2,4-D on their side of the fence (on a tree of all things!) A couple of days later a few of my tomato plants near the site started showing classic herbicide damage. That's what I call drift, and I suspect
what the original poster is experiencing... which is still speculation without seeing photos to confirm it.

Getting rid of Kudzu though is a futile task. Tell 'em to get a goat to keep it
controlled. Extensive excavation and fire are other options that come to mind...
Perhaps a concrete slab.....

If they go with the cut down and paint round-up solution, that should cause you
no problems with your plants.

Lee

[Ruth_10]

Kelley, the application with a paintbrush will prevent drift. It can be applied precisely where it is needed and nowhere else.

Drift occurs when it is sprayed and other plants are close by or when the wind catches the spray and carries it for a distance.

[feldon30]

I guess I am not as blase about just accepting a garden full of dead tomato plants as you guys are. I would make a point of asking the neighbors if they sprayed Roundup or some other weed killer in the past few days and making them aware that by spraying on a windy day, they killed all my plants.

Would I demand money? Probably not. The guilt (if they are not the Neighbors From Hell) will be enough.

You know why people should be made aware of their screwups? Because they never hestitate to tell me about mine.

[Tomatovator]

Morgan
The point I was trying to make is that even if a neighbor admitted to using Roundup or something else on a particular day there would be no way you could be sure the drift came from them. It could have come from a half mile away from a completely different user. Air pollution as well can cause leaf damage. Good luck finding the wrong doer with that one. I see lawn service trucks on my street almost every day. If I find my plants damaged in the morning there would be no way for me to be sure exactly who sprayed the stuff that affected them.