France in Focus

I was in the garden centre yesterday & saw Roundup for sale. Very puzzled as I thought glyphosate was banned in France?

I didn't have time to have a proper look at it as I was i/c two demanding grandchildren!!

Have a close look at the active ingredients. They have changed, but the name hasn't.

I think it is still available as roundup but have heard it is next to useless nowadays, I bought a large supply of "Gallup" on ebay UK and I still have a few gallons left, effective but a bit slow, but kills the roots as well, forget the vinegar and salt, thats bad for the soil as well, you can never replant where that has been used.

I think if you look at the ingredients you will find it does not contain glyphosate anymore. The active ingredient is now acetic acid aka vinegar. It does not work very well and it is a very expensive way to buy vinegar. Cheapo cleaning crystal vinegar from the supermarket with a couple of drops of washing up liquid to act as a surfactant will do as well - or as badly if you prefer.

The other preferred substitute nowadays is pelargonic acid. Even less effective than vinegar. Still sold at €40 a pop though. Perhaps only the once, but that would be enough to keep the profits up. It really does pay the customer to read the small (minuscule) print on the side of the box or bottle.