In article ,
says...


I am sceptical about root killers. When I dig in my garden I cannot get
through roots with an AXE !!! I frequently spend quite a while to get rid
of pretty modest roots. I have dead trees and YEARS later the roots are
still around in the lawn. So I seriously doubt you can get rid of a root
by killing it with copper sulfate or whatever. Even if the chemical
kills the root the mechanical obstruction will be around for a long time.
The chemicals can probably kill fine root hairs, but root hairs do not
stay root hairs for long.

Roland


The way the root killers is as follows, from what I've read:

1. Get the drains clean by mechanically "rooting them out."

2. Periodically use the Root Kill or Root X or whatever. The copper
sulfate is highly poisonous and inhibitory to new root
growth/infiltration.

So, it's unusual that it would actually fix an existing blockage, rather
it is a preventative. I agree with Roland that once the roots are in the
drain, it would probably take a lot more than copper sulfate to remove
the roots, at least for the kinds of trees that block my pipes!

Marc