1- If you rake off the sprayed Bermuda grass, will you also rake off a significant amount of glyphosate?
2- Will the produce not be fully considered organic for the 3 years it takes to dissipate?
3- If there’s a little bit of Bermuda grass in my lawn and a lot of ‘weeds’ could I possibly out-compete it on the perimeter with something aggressive like dock or creeping thyme?
I love follow-up questions! I'll answer as honest and best as I can.
1 - I'm honestly not sure. Here is my understanding: Glyphosate breaks down in the soil within days to weeks. It can persist up to 6 months. However, it won't affect other plants after about 3 days because of the way it sticks or binds to soil particles. Your vegetables will not be taking up glyphosate and you will not be ingesting it. But I can't prove this... This is just my understanding.
2 - So, to be certified organic, you cannot use unapproved herbicides/pesticides on your farm for a minimum of 3 years. This doesn't mean it takes 3 years for these herbicides/pesticides to dissipate, it just means thats what the USDA established as the timeframe to make sure land and crops were "clean"
3 - Bermudagrass isn't a problem in a lawn or pasture. If you are worried about bermuda grass creeping into your garden and don't want to spray, get a stirrup hoe and hoe it back every so often. This should work if you don't have a lot of it. I would be careful trying to out-compete it with something else. It might end up being that in the future you have a problem with whatever you used to out-compete it with. Make sense?
I wrote this primarily for the folks who live in urban/suburban areas and have a lawn that is primarily bermuda. This kind of situation is difficult to manage without spraying of some sort.
Now, with that said - I had a reader send me an email with an alternate idea that I love! So much so, that I am going to edit this post and add in the suggestion. I will make a note of this in the next newsletter!
Hello! I have some follow up questions 😁
1- If you rake off the sprayed Bermuda grass, will you also rake off a significant amount of glyphosate?
2- Will the produce not be fully considered organic for the 3 years it takes to dissipate?
3- If there’s a little bit of Bermuda grass in my lawn and a lot of ‘weeds’ could I possibly out-compete it on the perimeter with something aggressive like dock or creeping thyme?
I love follow-up questions! I'll answer as honest and best as I can.
1 - I'm honestly not sure. Here is my understanding: Glyphosate breaks down in the soil within days to weeks. It can persist up to 6 months. However, it won't affect other plants after about 3 days because of the way it sticks or binds to soil particles. Your vegetables will not be taking up glyphosate and you will not be ingesting it. But I can't prove this... This is just my understanding.
2 - So, to be certified organic, you cannot use unapproved herbicides/pesticides on your farm for a minimum of 3 years. This doesn't mean it takes 3 years for these herbicides/pesticides to dissipate, it just means thats what the USDA established as the timeframe to make sure land and crops were "clean"
3 - Bermudagrass isn't a problem in a lawn or pasture. If you are worried about bermuda grass creeping into your garden and don't want to spray, get a stirrup hoe and hoe it back every so often. This should work if you don't have a lot of it. I would be careful trying to out-compete it with something else. It might end up being that in the future you have a problem with whatever you used to out-compete it with. Make sense?
I wrote this primarily for the folks who live in urban/suburban areas and have a lawn that is primarily bermuda. This kind of situation is difficult to manage without spraying of some sort.
Now, with that said - I had a reader send me an email with an alternate idea that I love! So much so, that I am going to edit this post and add in the suggestion. I will make a note of this in the next newsletter!
Stay tuned!
1&2 that’s good to know! I do hope that glyphosate breaks down that quickly.
3. That’s good to hear! I’m waiting with anticipation.
Check back to the Bermudagrass post and look at the bottom! The new info is there.