L-artiklu bil-Malti
Dan l-artiklu hu dwar meta kelli nuża r-Roundup għall-ewwel darba. Jien kemm jista' jkun nipprova
nevita kimiċi, prodotti jew metodi mhux naturali fl-għalqa. Did-darba pero' kont
għadni ġej minn 4 xhur ta' xogħol barra minn Malta; l-għalqa tlaqtha kompletament.
Meta ġejt lura mis-safar lejn l-aħħar ta' Novembru l-għalqa kollha kienet saret
medda waħda ta' Tfief, aktar minn metru għoli!! Ma stajtx naħratha għax kien kiber
wisq u biex nqaċċat kollox b'idejja kien se jeħodli wisq żmien!
Mort biex nixtri bexx mingħajr ma naf għal xiex għandi nsaqsi iżda għidtilhom li
rrid noqtol it-Tfief u mill-ewwel semmewli 2 prodotti. Wieħed kien jaħdem mill-ewwel
filwaqt li r-Roundup kien se jieħu aktar ħin. Spjegawli d-doża li rrid nuża u qaluli
li l-aħjar żmien kien issa li għadha kif għamlet ftit xita (il-lejl ta' qabel).
Milli jidher aħjar tbexxu fl-imxarrab milli fin-niexef.
Wara mort għamilt ftit riċerka fuqu biex nara ftit xi ħsara jista' jagħmel iżda
b'xorti tajba, ir-Roundup hu pjuttost selettiv u jaħdem biss fuq pjanti u mhux velenuż
għall-annimali u bnedmin. Malli jmiss mall-ħamrija ma jibqax attiv u jitkisser mill-bacteria.
Hemm xi ftit polemika dwar kemm hu jew mhux tossiku iżda hu prodott komuni u popolari
ħafna mad-dinja kollha. Ħaġa interessanti hi li jaħdem biss meta jmiss mal-aħdar
tal-pjanta, iġifieri meta jmiss ma' zkuk ta' siġar mhux se jkollu effett.
Żvantaġġ li għandu hu l-fatt li jdum xi 3 ġimgħat sa ma effettivament joqtol il-pjanta,
għalkemm la darba joqtolha mbagħad, m'hemmx ċans li se terġa taqbad għax joqtolha
sal-għeruq. Wara ġimgħa l-pjanti kienu diġa' bdew jidbielu iżda wara 3 ġimgħat jew
4, kollox kien nixef kompletament. Indunajt b'kemm hu effettiv għax ix-xita ma waqfitx
tagħmel f'dak il-perjodu u parti oħra tal-għalqa mimlija Tfief iżda li ma kontx
bixxejt, kienet għadha qed tħaddar u fl-aqwa tagħha fejn il-bqija kien kollox mejjet.
L-unika affarijiet negattivi li sibt fl-artiklu tal-Wikipedja huma li jista' jaffettwa
ħażin lill-ħniex jew xi amfibji u jżid ukoll r-riskju ta' ċerta mard fix-xtieli.
Article in English
This article is about when I had to use Roundup for the first time. I try to avoid chemicals and
non-natural methods as much as possible in my field. However, last year I was working
abroad for 4 months and I had to abandon the field. When I came back by the end
of November the whole field was covered with 'Smooth sow thistle', over 1 metre
high. It was too high to use a tiller and it would have taken me ages to plough/harrow
the whole field by hand!
I went to buy some herbicide without really knowing what to ask for but when I asked
for something to get rid of the 'Smooth sow thistle' that had grown in my field
they immediately mentioned 2 products. One was effective immediately and very strong
and the other, Roundup would take longer. They explained to me the dose that I would
need and they told me that it was a good time to spray because it had just rained
the day before. Apparently, it's better to spray when the weather is wet.
Later I went to do some research on it to see how toxic and what kind of damage
it could do but luckily, Roundup is pretty selective, active only on plants and
is not toxic to animals and people. As soon as it comes in contact with soil it
is de-activated and it is easily broken down by bacteria. Not everyone agrees on
its toxicity but it is a very popular herbicide all over the world. What's interesting
is that if works only when it comes in contact with the green parts of plants, so
when it has no effect if it lands on the bark of trees.
One of its disadvantages is that it takes around 3 weeks to effectively kill the
plant, although once killed, it won't sprout again since Roundup affects it down
to its roots. After a week, the plants had already starting drooping but after 3
or 4 weeks, everything had dried up completely. I realised how effective it is because
it didn't stop raining during that period and another part of the field that was
full of 'Smooth sow thistle' but which I had not sprayed was still blooming and
green where the rest was completely dead.
The only negative features I found in the Wikipedia article are that it can harm
earthworms and amphibians. It also increased crop's susceptibility to disease.