I'm in the process of clearing my food plot area of poison oak and blackberry bushes... But roundup is getting expensive. Anybody use a custom mixture of chemicals that is cost effect and does the job quick?

Thanks

Both are very tough to kill plants. Roundup is the only compound I know of that even the EPA will allow to be used for not just aerial spraying but for use in domestic waterways. E

I've heard vinegar & salt is an alternative to round-up. No personal experience though.

I've also heard using a salt mixture in a backpack sprayer will encourage deer to clear out unwanted brush...haven't tried it though...

if you can do it, boiling water will kill any terrestrial plant

Goats.

2-4 - D will do it but I don't know if you can buy it without a license. Almost any agricultural herbicide will do it like Grazon but again I don't know about licensing where you are.

Sorry you asked about home made mixtures-- gasoline or diesel in a sprayer with some dish soap will do it but it will kill every thing else too.

This. There are a number of outfits in your area (I am assuming Willamette Valley) that rent goats for this purpose. The also eat Scotch Broom, poison ivy, english ivy and will clear out lots of woody underbrush as well. No herbicide can compare in cost effectiveness.

Keep in mind that removing any invasive plant on a large scale is a multiple year process.

40% Vinegar and Orange Oil - acts as a defoliant and takes multiple application. Usually ends up costing more than Glyphosate especially if you by concentrate at the agg co-ops.

20 Mule team Borax and dish detergent in a saturated solution. Need to soak down the leaves and roots. Nothing will grow there until it is washed out or diluted by rains.

Goats are a sure thing if you can keep them in the area. I have heard of outfits that do the whole deal - hot wire fence and even keep a Great Pyrenees with the goats to keep coyotes away. Not sure if there is anything like that in your area.

Diesel and dawn dish washing liquid will kill kudzu so it should work on poison ivy.

I do know for a fact the so called 'round up brush and poison ivy killer' will not kill the plant. It only slows it down a little.

quantify expensive?

yes Roundup is expensive


......but generics (gly-4) are much, much cheaper.

My BIL has the same issue and went with goats, he wanted 2 and ended up with 23! They are apparently doing a fabulous job though.

check with a local hardware associated with a chain. for example
Ace, etc. They will sell the same chemical in an off-brand form that is cheaper than the name brand. Read the ingredient labels.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/gordonsreg%3B-pronto-big-n-tuf-41%25-glyphosate-weed--grass-killer-2-1-2-gal

This will make 100 gallons of generic roundup. I add a little Dawn dishwashing soap as a surfactant. Sticks better to poison ivy leaves. A tablespoon or two of diesel in the sprayer always finishes off any plant.

Crossbow is designed for woody plants. I usually use equal mix of Crossbow and Roundup. Pretty effective. Whereabouts in Oregon are you?

+1 Crossbow will work well.

Also tank mixing Round-up with a "brush killer" that has Triclopyr as it's active ingredient will do a number on woody plants (Crossbow also uses Triclopyr but sometimes it's restricted for homeowner use)

You can really improve the effectiveness of glyphosate by acidifying the water before mixing along with a surfactant.

Read a lot of labels do ya?


Home brews? No.

Chemicals that will kill it dead? There are plenty.

In Oregon you should be able to get Crossbow. It's a combo of Garlon 4 and 2,4-d ester if memory serves me right. Read and follow all label directions. Wear your personal protective equipment and treat it with respect. A good crop oil will help cut the waxy cuticle layer on poison oak so grab some of that as well. This stuff will enter the entire plant as opposed to glyphosate (roundup) that will only enter the green part, so make sure you wet the whole plant. With this in mind, spraying poison oak that has grown up a tree, you are risking losing that tree.

my mother in law

Go to the feed store and buy around 500 lbs cattle salt [cheap] mix it with water in your sprayer, I have a 300 gallon sprayer and mix in five 50 lb sacks per every 300 gallons.

Gunner

Careful with the salt. It stays in the soil forever.

Yessir, and it mixes very well with lime and chicken/horse/donkey/cow manure the next year.

Gunner

I would wait until the end of summer to spray, the plants are sending more sugars to the roots and that will carry the chemical to the roots. We have had better luck killing Autumn Olive and Ailanthus when doing this. When we spray in the spring/ early summer we usually get a top kill but the roots sprout later in the summer.

Ditto, also consider tankmixing Shark Herbicide, it is Imazapher, and works very good on poison oak tankmixed with Roundup. Anything with garlon or Trichophr is subject to resprouting the next year.

The active chemical in Roundup, Glyphosate, was a Monsanto invention that is now out of patent. Now there are lots of generic brands that are far cheaper than Roundup. Just a few that I know of are Razor, Bulldog, Ranger, Rodeo,and Honcho. There are many others. Just look for glyphosate on the label. Many generics are sold only in 2.5 gal jugs which goes a long way. It will keep for several years but DON'T let it freeze. Some are also sold in smaller quantities.

Monsanto is marketing Roundup for the home gardener big time in all kinds of bottles, premixes, etc. They're making a killing with the high prices they charge.

Tractor Supply generic Glyphosate concentrate (like Rock Chuck recommended) mixed as directed and add a tablespoon of dishwashing soap as a surfactant and 4oz of vinegar per gallon of mix. You can almost watch poison ivy die as you spray.

hmmmmmmm
captain planet may not agree with this



but i mixed up in my pump sprayer
gas, some used motor oil, some used tran fluid and some mineral spirits earlier this spring on some brush around the back yard fence and created a planet of the apes forbidden zone of vegetation death
aint none of it has grown back yet


definatley cheaper and was on hand in the garage
i imagine diesel would work also all by itself
bout 4.50 a gallon