What is Nonselect Herbicide?

Written by Lee Wyatt (last updated May 16, 2022)

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There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of different types of herbicides available on the market. Chances are you have come across several different brands and kinds of herbicides when looking around your local nursery. However, what most people don't realize is that all of these different brands and kinds of herbicides basically boil down to two types of herbicides: selective and nonselective. What is nonselect herbicide? The answers to this, and other questions, are listed below.

  • What it is. Simply put, a nonselect herbicide is one that will affect just about any plant with which it comes into contact. This basically means that any and all plants that it is applied to will be killed off. In comparison, selective herbicides are designed and made to be effective only against certain types of plants. Another term that is commonly used for nonselective herbicides is a broad-spectrum herbicide.
  • Types of nonselect herbicides. There are all kinds of broad-spectrum and nonselective herbicides that you can choose from. In fact, many of the more commonly known or recognized weed killers are actually nonselective herbicides. These are known by such names as Roundup, or Ortho Weed-Be-Gone to name a couple. A commonly used organic nonselective herbicide is vinegar. Basically anything that says that it will kill off multiple types of plants can be used as a nonselective herbicide.
  • The effects of a nonselective herbicide. Non-selective herbicides need to be used with great care since they can kill off any and all plants that they come into contact with. Usually you should only use these types of herbicides when you don't care what plants you kill off. Ideally, you will use this on an area that you have already prepared as much as possible, such as a garden before planting. This means that you should take extreme care when you use it, and when it stored. If you accidentally spill some of this type of herbicide it will kill off anything that it comes into contact with.
  • Applying nonselective herbicides. When you decide to use a nonselective herbicide in an area that has more than one kind of vegetation great care needs to be taken. The easiest way to do this is if you are using a liquid style herbicide, and put it into a spray bottle. Take this spray bottle and directly spray the area of the plant you want gone. Do not spread the herbicide around too much, but try to get it onto the plant that you want removed as much as possible.

Author Bio

Lee Wyatt

Contributor of numerous Tips.Net articles, Lee Wyatt is quickly becoming a regular "Jack of all trades." He is currently an independent contractor specializing in writing and editing. Contact him today for all of your writing and editing needs! Click here to contact. ...

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What is 2 + 5?

2012-07-31 04:54:58

Z GS

Enjoyed your explanation and cautions. In the future, I would like to hear more about organic solutions (like vinegar).


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