A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 More S-berry questions

Hi there, I have another question about strawberries. I have an obnoxious weed, (I think chick weed, but have to verify it) and I can use roundup to kill it(the weeds). Question #1 Will it harm my plants, #2 Can I spray now? #3 Will it have any effect on my crop later this year? #4 Is there anything, else I could use if I can't use roundup on the strawb's Thanks-Hannah

Yes. Glyphosate(roundup) will kill all actively growing plants.

No.

See answer 2...

Without getting too technical, most of today's broadleaf herbicides use a systemic mode of action. This means that the plant needs to be actively growing for good control. Even winter weeds are not actively growing enough over the winter to make the herbicide effective enough.

Come spring, If you can spray the roundup carefully enough to keep it off the strawberry plant's foliage, it should knock down your weed problem....assuming it is chickweed. You should positively ID your weed first. Another way of using herbicides is to apply it to the weed's foliage with a small paint brush. Of course, this may not be feasible if there is too much of it.

What about covering each strawberry plant with a plastic bag before you spray?

That'll work too. You just need to be real careful of the over-spray. Even one drop of the stuff is enough to kill. READ THE LABELS!