Be careful when spraying around small flowers!

Going into winter, it is always annoying that grass and some weeds pop up in the weirdest places because of the cooler temperatures and wet ground.  I get the question a lot from people, “When does Roundup stop working?”  Let me give a short explanation as I answer this question.

Round up is a foliage killer.  What that means is, Roundup will only kill a plant that the liquid touches the foliage.  Once the roundup is on the foliage, the plant will absorb it into its system and use it as fertilizer.  The plant doesn’t realize that it is poison, sending the chemical to the roots and killing the plant.

With that explanation, Round up becomes ineffective when the plant is not actively growing.  If the plant is dormant, it will not absorb the chemical and kill itself.  The bottle usually says below 70 degrees it is ineffective…because plants start going dormant at that point.

Side note…

• If you over concentrate Round up, you will lessen the effects of the product.
• If you spray just dirt, you are wasting your time and money.
• Getting the leaves of the plant wet is sufficient to kill the plant
• It is virtually harmless for most animals, except major grass eaters. (DON’T SPRAY IN A FIELD WITH GOATS, COWS, HORSES, ETC!!)
• When you kill a weed plant, the seeds from that plant will fall to the ground and grow a new plant.  That is why the spot you sprayed turns green again in about 2 weeks.  Use a preventative product to prevent seeds from germinating if you want to prevent this from happening.
• It takes multiple sprays over a long period of time to completely kill Bermuda grass or Nutsedge.

Happy Killing