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Effective weed killers


rowland
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For our gravel drives we recently have used calcium chloride. It's the white crystals in the dehumidifier packs and can be bought in bulk. Totally harmless to us and pets and animals it's used as a food additive in canned veggies, cheese, beer etc and it doesn't build up in the soil.

When the dehumidifier pack crystals have dissolved in the water they attract from the atmosphere, the resulting water in the bottom of the container is a concentrated solution of CaCl which burns weeds and grass brown in 24 -48 hours and prevents them growing again for a time, three months we find  or until rain washes it away. 

You can dissolve the crystals in water in a watering can but beware the water will get hot ( put crystals into the water and stir with a stick- not water into the crystals) and just water it on with a sprinkler bar. You need 2 x one kg packs in a watering can. Don't wear leather work gloves to handle it, it shrinks the leather.

It's called chlorure de calcium in French.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_chloride

 

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4 hours ago, anotherbanana said:

If you mix that with sugar doesnt it xxxxxxx?

Noooo - that's sodium chlorate. Very effective explosive mixture rammed into a 12 inch length of bike frame tube flatten the ends and drill a small hole for jetex fuse - light it and run like hell   - So they tell me!?

In those days out in the country nobody took a blind bit of notice of the loud bang!

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2 hours ago, Harnser said:

Noooo - that's sodium chlorate. Very effective explosive mixture rammed into a 12 inch length of bike frame tube flatten the ends and drill a small hole for jetex fuse - light it and run like hell   - So they tell me!?

In those days out in the country nobody took a blind bit of notice of the loud bang!

Nooo, don't try this at home.  In my misspent youth, we used to mess with this kind of stuff.  Unfortunately, one time, nothing appeared to happen, so my pal Jeff foolishly decided to clunk it with a hammer.  To this day he still walks with a slight limp as a result of the tube disappearing into his leg, just above the knee and exiting via his lower thigh.  He has also coped miraculously well for the last 60 years without a left hand.

Over the years, I've often wondered how I would have carried on had I been the one who swung the hammer. What kind of profession I would have followed I can't begin to imagine, as you don't come across many one-handed professional guitarists.

Oh, and I can still hear the bang to this day.

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Excellent advice! It was the first thing that came to mind when I read the method of construction. I survived without any premature ignition due to my lucky observation of hitting the unconfined  “gun powder” with a hammer on a brick. I was ultra careful when building my bombs. We were short of bicycle frames so had to make do with old mortar shells.

  I can’t believe someone else knows about Jetex fuse. I still have my Jetex 50 with some fuse and fuel blocks. Thanks for jogging my memory.

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On 18/12/2021 at 19:50, cajal said:

Nooo, don't try this at home.  In my misspent youth, we used to mess with this kind of stuff.  Unfortunately, one time, nothing appeared to happen, so my pal Jeff foolishly decided to clunk it with a hammer.  To this day he still walks with a slight limp as a result of the tube disappearing into his leg, just above the knee and exiting via his lower thigh.  He has also coped miraculously well for the last 60 years without a left hand.

Over the years, I've often wondered how I would have carried on had I been the one who swung the hammer. What kind of profession I would have followed I can't begin to imagine, as you don't come across many one-handed professional guitarists.

Oh, and I can still hear the bang to this day.

What fun some had in their childhood. I met one guy who somehow lost an arm by throwing a weight attached to a wire over a power transmission line, and another who lost a hand while throwing rocks at a mortar bomb he and his friends had found.

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Cor dear me!

I still have tucked away, a Jetex-powered model waiting to be built! And an original Jetex engine.

I also used Jetex fuse to set off my bombs! However, these used home brewed gunpowder in ally cigar tubes, which my Dad used to smoke.

I also used Potassium Chlorate: Sodium Chlorate - weedkiller - is hygroscopic; i.e it absorbs moisture from the atmosphere.

Pot Chlorate and ground up rock sulphur was the best. I used to save up firework's night small bangers and use these as a detonator and make up slow fuse, with the lovely dark blue tissue paper that was in boxes of greengrocer's fruit. steeped in saltpetre solution (Potassium Nitrate): the main ingredient of gunpowder.

The slow fuse allowed one to be able to hide away from any danger.

By the way: it was my Dad and his younger Brother who taught us how to make bangs!

The other fun one was Nitrogen Triiodide: simply made by steeping Iodine crystals in ammonia and then filtering off the ammonia. Great carried around in a testube, in ammonia solution and then pop some in the end of the Master's chalk.

A nice bang and a cloud of violet smoke!

 

Edited by Gluestick
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2 hours ago, Gluestick said:

The other fun one was Nitrogen Triiodide: simply made by steeping Iodine crystals in ammonia and then filtering off the ammonia. Great carried around in a testube, in ammonia solution and then pop some in the end of the Master's chalk.

A nice bang and a cloud of violet smoke!

I had trouble at the local Boots the Chemist and was cross questioned about why I needed iodine crystals. Nevertheless he relented and sold me a small, sealed box. I made the very unstable tri-iodide crystals, collected some in a tiny , plastic container and went off to school. They were marvellous causing mayhem and much entertainment in our classroom. Unfortunately, the next day I tried to repeat the exercise but my plastic capsule in my trouser pocket suddenly exploded while the class was lined up. I can still locate the small depression in my leg but the violet stain only lasted a few weeks.

I think we have highjacked this thread which was a question about weed killer. Sorry OP!

I usually resort to paying good money for a systemic weed killer such as Weedol. The drive and paths get a fine spray treatment when we leave to return to the UK and it definitely keeps the weeds in check.

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