In ,
Elmo typed:
On Sun, 25 Apr 2010 13:26:53 -0500, [SMF] wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate

"It is absorbed through foliage and translocated to growing
points."

But, WHY does a plant absorb the poison when the plant
normally doens't absorb water from its leaves.

IIRC, a plant absorbs water from the roots and transpires
that water out the leaves so that nutrients flow up and
sugars manufactured by the leaf flow down, with oxygen
given off as a waste byproduct.

What I don't understand, if we can give a leaf a
personality, is why the leaf bothers to absorb the wet
chemical. What is that mechanism that makes the leaf want
to absorb the poison.

Someone said osmosis, which might be right ... in that the
concentration of the glyphosate is greater on the outside
of the leaf than on the inside and the cell membranes allow
the stuff through ... maybe it's that simple. Maybe not.

That's why I'm asking.

Reading the labels on the containers almost always tells you the answers
you're looking for. Then if needed, go to Google with the terms you now
gained as helpers for the search. There is no single answer as different
products work in different ways and with different chemicals.