DIY Weedkiller!

[nick the grief]

Yes it does. It is loaded with Ammonia which is high in Nitogen and this helps break down the greenstuff - it does the same job as Garrotta but if free!!

[Alice]

I new when I posted this that someone would pick up on current EEC regulations regarding COSHH.

From what I can gather you can't use any substance including rhubarb leaves for clubroot or as a pesticide spray. No salt water for aphids or salt as a weed killer, no vinegar, no comfrey tea as a feed, no nettle tea, no sack of **** in a water butt for liquid feed, no soapy water for aphids, can't wee on your compost heap, use Mare's tail as a fungiscide in fact no home brewed concoction of any description!

Before long, before we spread the contents of the compost heap on the lottie we'll have to get someone out from Brussels to check it out and say it's ok!

Sorry to be Victorianesque, but I agree with Dexter, what the eye doesn't see the heart won't grieve over!

I'm sorry, but in my own garden I'll reserve the right to use what I like according to my own best judgement and blow the EEC and their regulations.

[seasprout]

Erm...

I new when I posted this that someone would pick up on current EEC regulations regarding COSHH.


Sorry to be Victorianesque, but I agree with Dexter, what the eye doesn't see the heart won't grieve over!

Please dont think I was being critical, I was only pointing out I thought it was frowned on by the EU, so far I've not found anywhere where it confirms you cannot make your own.
I think the rules are you cannot mix approved chemicals.

Personnally I think you should use what you think is best for your situation.

All the best.

[terrier]

Yes it does. It is loaded with Ammonia which is high in Nitogen and this helps break down the greenstuff - it does the same job as Garrotta but if free!!

Horse bedding that the horses have soiled decomposes at a tremendous rate esp if straw is used, when they wee it's a gallon at a time.Thats a heluva lotta Garotta

I meant to add that the stuff makes good mulch in the winter months.No weed can get through it. I know it's not weedkiller,as per thread, but a good weed supressant

[Two_Sheds]

you can't use any substance including rhubarb leaves for clubroot or as a pesticide spray. No salt water for aphids or salt as a weed killer, no vinegar, no comfrey tea as a feed, no nettle tea, no sack of **** in a water butt for liquid feed, no soapy water for aphids

Is it because no big company is profiting when you make your own products? "they" want you to buy B&Q, ICI, etc to add to the GDP
cynical, moi?

[TPeers]

Is it because no big company is profiting when you make your own products? "they" want you to buy B&Q, ICI, etc to add to the GDP
cynical, moi?

What? You! Cynical!! Heaven forbid!

[Flummery]

Just because you're cynical, Two Sheds, it doesn't mean you're not right! I much prefer the thought of the home-made stuff to some of the chemicals we are forced to eat if we buy shop food.

[Cutecumber]

Whatever you practice in your own garden, technically illegal or not, it is still important to point out the potential dangers of playing chef.

I thought perhaps the person who mentioned brewing foxgloves (on another thread) was joking, but you never know.

It's prudent to remember that not everyone has the same knowledge or common sense.

So there. Ner.

[TEB]

yep dont want any Darwin award members

[Cutecumber]

lol! I bet there's a few in the making around here

[rustylady]

I new when I posted this that someone would pick up on current EEC regulations regarding COSHH.

From what I can gather you can't use any substance including rhubarb leaves for clubroot or as a pesticide spray. No salt water for aphids or salt as a weed killer, no vinegar, no comfrey tea as a feed, no nettle tea, no sack of **** in a water butt for liquid feed, no soapy water for aphids, can't wee on your compost heap, use Mare's tail as a fungiscide in fact no home brewed concoction of any description!

Before long, before we spread the contents of the compost heap on the lottie we'll have to get someone out from Brussels to check it out and say it's ok!

Sorry to be Victorianesque, but I agree with Dexter, what the eye doesn't see the heart won't grieve over!

Agree completely, too many beaurocrats. As long as you're sure what you're using won't cause harm to yourself or anyone else you should be able to use what you like, including home-made stuff. After all it's not illegal (at the moment) to grow rhubarb so why not use the leaves to make pesticide?

[Snadger]

Please dont think I was being critical, I was only pointing out I thought it was frowned on by the EU, so far I've not found anywhere where it confirms you cannot make your own.
I think the rules are you cannot mix approved chemicals.

Personnally I think you should use what you think is best for your situation.

All the best.

Sorry if I came across as having a go...I wasn't!

You are right though, you can't spray a cocktail of approved chemicals unless it says so on the packaging!
Some of the chemicals are very potent and there could be unforseen side effects of mixing chemicals!

[Protea]

The legal definition of pesticide is:

Any substance, preparation, or organism prepared or used amongst other uses, to protect plants or wood or other plant products from harmful organisms; to regulate the growth of plants; to give protection against harmful creatures; or to render such creatures harmless.

This means that all pesticides are illegal, except for those that have been approved.

If you want to spray a concoction of vinegar, gin and other stuff, thats perfectly ok. but what you cannot do is claim any 'pesticidal' effects, including saying it kills weeds.

There is very good reasoning behind pesticide legislation, as someone else pointed out - you may know how to mix said potion together, but someone else may not - what happens if they spray it on someone/something and a bad reaction occurs, or if it gets into a watercourse and kills fish/plants/organisms ?

It does seem ludicrous, and i'm not saying don't do it, but i would be wary of making pesticidal claims and providing a recipe for a home mixed product on a public forum like this. I work in the pesticide industry and have to deal with this legislation nonsense every day!

[SimonCole]

Good point above!

I can see no point in neglecting specifically formulated pesticides or herbicides. What you have in them is a long molecule that acts specifically on a particular organism. For example insecticides act like nerve gas to insects and no other animals. You also have it in the right concentration!
If you find a formula that kills insects/weeds, then it will be doing the same to you... why should it be specific?

I could see someone ending up with vaporised cyanide or contact explosive through common logic... but your not trying to bake a cake... so anything could happen!

[seasprout]

No worries.

Sorry if I came across as having a go...I wasn't!

You are right though, you can't spray a cocktail of approved chemicals unless it says so on the packaging!
Some of the chemicals are very potent and there could be unforseen side effects of mixing chemicals!

Did you know Benadictine Monks 'Mucking about' with Grapes from vineyards accidently invented Champagne.

And sadly a couple of weirdo's mucking about with nerve agents accidentally invented Sarin, the most deadly nerve agent.

Or so I am told.