Got banned from a gardening forum for saying roundup is fine if you follow the directions

I used to post about herbicide safety all the time, but one day a mod messaged me saying I was promoting 'dangerous chemicals' after I mentioned I used 2 teaspoons of roundup on poison ivy behind my shed. The kicker is, that post had 47 upvotes before it got nuked. Has anyone else hit a wall with organic-only moderators?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_bailey1mo ago

Exactly this. I had a similar situation on a homesteading forum where I shared a photo of my vegetable garden and someone zoomed in on a bottle of neem oil concentrate and went ballistic. They said neem oil kills bees and I was a monster for suggesting it. But the directions literally say to spray at dusk when bees aren't active. The mods deleted my whole post instead of just the comment. Organic only people seem to think any chemical is evil even if you follow the label. Meanwhile they'll use copper fungicide which is way more toxic than most herbicides. It's like there's no middle ground anymore.

gibson.morgan1mo ago

You said roundup is "more complicated than just follow the label and you're fine" but the label is literally approved by the EPA after years of testing. I get that runoff is a real concern with any chemical, but the same argument applies to copper fungicide building up in soil which you admitted is an issue too. Seems like the main difference is just which chemicals the mods personally decided are okay.

baker.holly1mo ago

I get where you're coming from, but I actually see it differently. Roundup is a lot more complicated than just "follow the label and you're fine." The label says nothing about how it hangs around in soil or what happens when it runs off into creeks and ponds. I used to think the same way until I learned that even tiny amounts can mess with beneficial soil bacteria for months. Neem oil on the other hand breaks down super fast in sunlight and doesn't accumulate the same way. Copper fungicide is actually one of the worst offenders in terms of building up in the soil over time, so I'd agree with you there. It seems like the real issue is that gardening forums have no room for nuance anymore, you either buy into one camp or the other completely.