Pesticides and Herbicides

[Thundarstick]

We have a Roundup thread going, but how many of you, or the general population, stop to think about where we would be without them? Do some here grow ALL your own food using no chemicals, never treat your pets for internal or external parasites, never use pesticides on or in your home. I wonder how many houses would be eaten by termites? Bed bugs and head lice anyone? Ticks and mosquitos galore!

I like my chemicals!

[lavenatti]

I'm with you. I don't trust the safety of roundup but still use it around the driveway and on poison ivy as it pops up around the edges of the property.

As for insecticides, well, since the state bird of NJ is the mosquito you kind of need them to spend any time outside. Clouds of them will descend on you in the morning and evening hours, we've even had times when you ran from the car to the house. For these guys I'll spray some malathion or permethrins around the edge of the yard when they get numerous with decent success. I like malathion, it's fairly harmless to humans (we detoxify it in the body) and it's been around a long time. It's those insectides that are quietly removed from the shelves that concern me. Remember diazinon? Used to be sold everywhere for ants. I imagine something unhealthy was discovered and it was removed before people and their lawyers could make any links to health issues.
I also live in a house built in 1850, I'm not going to be the guy that let termites eat it.

[Edward]

Commercial applicator for 46 yrs ,retired still using Roundup and it still works as advertised !

[Shepherd2]

I wouldn't want to be without Roundup or pesticides. Better living through Chemistry.

[farmerjim]

I wouldn't want to be without Roundup or pesticides. Better living through Chemistry.

+1
I like GMO too.

[Petrol & Powder]

Shepard2 beat me to it.

Better Living Through Chemistry

When used properly, we can greatly improve our lives with chemicals.

I always point out that there are a lot of naturally occurring things that are extraordinarily dangerous. Our ability to use chemicals wisely is a good thing. If someone doesn't agree with that, consider: malaria, yellow fever, scabies, tapeworms, cholera, venomous animals, poison ivy and even sunburn ! Our knowledge of chemistry is useful for all of those problems and more. Pesticides, herbicides, medicines, water treatment, anti-venom and even sunblock can make our lives better !

[Froogal]

My north driveway is graveled and sees very little actual use. If it weren't for glyphosate (roundup) and a product called "Barrier", that driveway would be nothing but a weedy mess. I use the glyphosate in other areas also along with 2,4d when I don't want to kill the grass. I also use a LOT of "Sevin" insecticide. Both liquid and dust.

[RED BEAR]

Oh believe me i am a firm believer in a better life through modern pharmaceuticals.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I hate to jump in here and be contrary, BUT...
Less is more, IHMO.

I realize we can't eliminate all Pesticides and Herbicides, but I believe our society uses way too much, for every little inconvenience. I will always advocate for more natural deterrents and only use potentially dangerous chemicals when necessary, problem is, who decides what is necessary?

[Thundarstick]

I'm going to agree with less is more, sometimes.

I'm mostly thinking of the ignorant snow flakes that believe we could live the life style we enjoy and do away with all chemical pesticides and herbicide use. I'd be willing to bet if they chopped as much cockle burrs and pulled as much Johnson grass as I did growing up, they'd be mixing up a sprayer!

[lightman]

It would be very hard, maybe even impossible to live without chemicals. The trick is to follow label directions and exercise a little caution. Or common sense!

[Conditor22]

I use them judiciously, all I do is spot maintenance spraying.

My 2 friends are roundup and crossbow.
Roundup kills grass
Crossbow only broadleaf
They can be mixed and efficiently kill everything I need to be gone.

I add a little Miracle Grow to the mix, it helps speed the chemicals to the roots

[GregLaROCHE]

I used to use them a lot, but less and less that we are finding out that they can be harmful. Still I use some now and then. I believe, live a better life with the use of chemicals. I have a lot around my place. My favorite is HCl on heavy rust (not guns). It’s a lot cheaper than Naval Jelly when you buy it by the gallon.

[nueces5]

Without the advances of chemistry, we could not think of the world as it is today. Chemicals are absolutely necessary. The proposal is not to live again as in 1850.
Unfortunately some substances take longer to be proven as carcinogenic. There is a story, a contraceptive called DES, generated cancer in the daughters of the patients who had taken it. Therefore, long-term adverse effects were a big problem. Imagine that a company spends millions to develop a substance, and then they have to withdraw it from the market ...
The best balance in the situation is to choose the chemicals that do less damage to us.
By the way, today's tomatoes do not have the same taste and smell that they had when I was a child.

[Thundarstick]

That's weird. The tomatoes I grow in my garden taste exactly as I remember as a kid? The ones at the grocery don't taste like anything.

[Froogal]

That's weird. The tomatoes I grow in my garden taste exactly as I remember as a kid? The ones at the grocery don't taste like anything.

YEP!! Exactly!

[largom]

I hate to jump in here and be contrary, BUT...
Less is more, IHMO.

I realize we can't eliminate all Pesticides and Herbicides, but I believe our society uses way too much, for every little inconvenience. I will always advocate for more natural deterrents and only use potentially dangerous chemicals when necessary, problem is, who decides what is necessary?

Agree 100 %. My hang-up is no-till farming. Way to much herbicide is applied to the fields. Plants, seeds,and insects absorb the herbicides which are eat by game and song birds. Pheasants, quail, doves and many song birds are declining in numbers and totally gone in some areas. Run-off from sprayed fields goes into the streams and effects fish and other wildlife such as Muskrats. I have had wildlife officers agree with this but stated that no one wants to go against the Dept. of Agriculture.

[Duckiller]

Not everyone uses pesticides. I had an uncle that lived in Mississippi and did not spray his cotton to kill bowl weevils. He also didn't irrigate either. His yield was lower than his neighbors who did spray but his production costs were much less. He also thanked his neighbors for spraying so he would have enough birds to keep the weevils under control. He wondered if no one in his area sprayed would there be enough birds to keep weevils under control. Had a friend in Michigan whose father was a farmer in southern MI. Lots of pheasants in his fields. The Williams family of the Williams Gun Sight Co. regularly came out to hunt pheasants on his father's farm. Then his father along with many farmers figured out they could control weed with herbicides instead of tilling all summer long. The pheasants totally disappeared from the farm in three years. Have a friend who is very allergic to Marathon. When Jerry Brown sprayed to eliminate fruit flies in So. Cal he had to stop mowing his lawn. Residual amounts bothered him for the next 4-5 years. Yes chemicals are necessary to our modern life and there is a factory that still makes DDT. When ever thsome branch of the UN declares a major outbreak of malaria this factory opens up and produces enough DDT to kill most of the malaria carrying mosquitoes. Once the job
is done the factory is closed until it is needed again.
Ask a commercial tomato farmer what he thinks of his product. He will tell you it is what he has to raise to get to market. They are picked green and have no taste. His family eats tomatos that his wife raises in their garden.

[starnbar]

I use some stuff like tobacco dust it will kill anything that flies or crawls across it and after a good rain its gone that dust is no good for tomatoes it will flat burn them up but it keeps any roaches ants fleas and ticks spiders off the lawn

[bmortell]

there is nontoxic alternatives to most things like these but people generally just don't try. they like the convenience of pre made stuff even if it has potential dangers to themselves or the greater environment. sometimes it takes a very long time to prove something has long term health effects. if someone uses say vinegar and salt for weeds instead of roundup I don't think that means there anti progress or whatever.

my garden personally I wouldn't eat anything sprayed with chemicals. i just made my whole garden a wood chip mushroom bed last year and theres no weeds to need picked or sprayed. most plants don't get eaten by bugs here but if there were id research if there was some kind of food safe more household product that i could try. i think this stuff should be more a last resort or atleast explore your options. already know enough dead people with cancer.