Using Roundup around dormant Trident Maples?

[sheepdawg]

Hello all.

I have some tridents in a grow bed which has suddenly become overgrown with grass. As far as I understand glycophosphate is absorbed through foliage so the dormant tridents should be okay. I plan on being very careful with my goal to not get any Roundup on the tridents.

This is good idea? Or am I asking for trouble?

[KIRKY]

Yeah I have read that they kill via leaf too. My husband thought he would weed a dormant Plum for me in a bonsai pot as he said only just touched the weeds. The Plum never survived I’m assuming the poison was drawn from the weed roots to the Plum roots? No other explanation as far as I could see. So I wouldn’t use the round up. Good luck
Cheers
Kirky

[shibui]

I regularly use glyphosate around the trees in my grow beds and have no problems. Be mindful that the tridents buds are starting to swell and some may even have started to open so could be susceptible. Glyphosate can also get into the plant through recent, open cuts so don't spray after pruning.
Not sure how big this grow bed is or what weeds are there but hand weeding is a safe option and does not really take much longer than careful spraying.

We cannot graft widely different species together so it is not possible for glyphosate to move between grass roots and tree roots. It may move between one tree and a neighboring tree of the same species.
When a plant dies it is easier to blame chemical than to look for the real reason. I lost a few banksias one spring after using glyphosate on the weeds in the pots and assumed that was the cause. Next spring more died and I had not used the chemical. When I looked closer the banksias were totally root bound and had died from dehydration because water could not get into the root ball.

[KIRKY]

I sort of agree Neil but I had three Plums all potted and roughly the same age etc... the only one that died was hubby helping weed maybe he did? May be he didn’t?, but I can’t find any other reason for a previously healthy tree to die.
Cheers
Kirky

[Sno]

In my expierance it can be absorbed through the roots . I killed a snow gum (not bonsai ) which was growing next to another tree which I cut off level to the the ground and then painted neat with glysophate . I also have an ivy ( not bonsai ) growing in a pot which after I painted a dandelion growing in the same pot is now just about dead . Maybe the concentration at time of application is a factor whether it can be transferred through the roots .i killed a grove of wild cherries maybe twenty trees ,after cutting one tree and painting the stump I’m still not sure if they were all root suckers from the same tree .

[rodm]

If you are unsure why risk it. You can always do a bit of manual labour and dig the weeds out
Cheers RodM

[Waltron]

Why risk it indeed!
link

[greg27]

Why risk it indeed!
link

They paid out because the US legal system is inherently broken. In that article it says

Earlier this year the US Environmental Protection Agency found glyphosate was "unlikely to be a human carcinogen".

As long as you don't drink the stuff it's perfectly safe to use around the garden. I've used it to kill tiny weeds growing out of the moss on one of my bonsai (glyphosate doesn't affect moss).

[Waltron]

They paid out to avoid it going to court, to keep it off the record. That's what all payouts are.

EDIT: Sorry, I should have explicitly used the term "out of court settlement".

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

(glyphosate doesn't affect moss).

What about the bees..

[shibui]

I have not seen any evidence about glyphosate affecting bees however the systemic pesticides like Imacloprid have been implicated in bee decline because the insecticide ends up in all parts including flowers. Even if the dose is not enough to affect the foraging bee they then concentrate the nectar into honey and feed it to the larvae.

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

https://e360.yale.edu/features/bee-aler ... -honeybees

[Ryceman3]

https://e360.yale.edu/features/bee-aler ... -honeybees

I don’t know enough about this stuff... need to pay more attention. Thanks for the link.

[shibui]

Thanks for the link. Not conclusive by any means but as a beekeeper I do have a vested interest in understanding all the possibilities. I will be watching out for more as it turns up.

[KIRKY]

I stopped using spray pesticides so I wasn’t killing good bugs n bees etc.... then I used the systemic pesticides on Satsuki’s only ensuring to put the pesticide on when they weren’t flowering so the bees can’t get poisoned. However I found that during the hot summer days the bees would land on the wet/damp moss to either drink or cool down and I found them dying on my brick pavements. That was a few years ago, now I no longer use systemic pesticides, If I need to spray for anything I try natural home remedies or natural eco oil. I also ensure a few plant saucers are left around the garden full of water for the bees during summer, I watch them crowd around the rim for a drink.
Cheers
Kirky