Even at $5.00 per gallon, gas is still cheaper than weedkiller. A friend told me that gas poured on soil prevents anything from growing there. My question; why not use gas as a cheaper alternative to weedkiller?
Gasoline is dangerous, polluting and flammable. Three reasons to stick with Roundup.
In most cases, people use weedkiller to kill off weeds either prior to planting something else that they do want growing there, or they use it to carefully kill weeds that are growing below, around, or amongst other cultivated plants they want to keep. Gasoline would not perform well in these most common of scenarios.
Pollution more than anything. Gasoline will stay in the soil, not break down, and establish a dead zone.
True story. When I was about 12, a car dropped its gas tank right in front of our house. We waited a couple of days to see if the owner would come back, then tried to get rid of the eyesore. The tank was nearly full and very heavy, so we poured off some of the gasoline onto the lawn. I was in college before anything grew in that spot again.
Roundup kills weeds, then breaks down. It has no residual soil activity, so it is relatively safe to use.
As an environmental engineer, I can’t emphasize enough that you should not intentionally pour gasoline on soil. Besides the fact that it is illegal in every U.S. state to do this, petroleum compounds pollute the soil and groundwater. They are also very difficult to clean up. Gasoline is particularly bad because it often contains MTBE, which is a carcinogen that is soluble in water and can spread great distances.
Roundup also runs about $10/acre, which has to be vastly, vastly cheaper than spraying gasoline. Roundup is only expensive if you buy it in those little squirt bottles at the garden centre.
I tried using weedkiller. Not only was it way expensive, my car wouldn’t run on it at all, and in fact, I think it screwed up the engine pretty badly.
You don’t think I used too much water in the dilution, do you?
You probably did. You should add more concentrate to get it to the proper dilution ratio.
I tried gasoline on the grass popping up thru the cracks in my driveway, no dice it wont die. Rant: weed killer, bleach, boiling water, gas, the stuff wont die!! :mad:
Here’s the best reason. It’s the most expensive thing you could use. You’re financially responsible for the hazardous waste clean up costs.