[jisee]

Ive used vinegar for this and it works well.............can add detergent


There's been lots written recently about the toxicity of Monsanto's poster child product Roundup, exposing how harmful it is for the earth and how poisonous it is on exposure for both animals and humans. However, what is not common knowledge to most organic gardeners and back yard enthusiasts is how they can manage weed control safely without the need for dangerous pesticides. Use vinegar to kill weeds naturally and safely, with no side effects to you, your pets, wildlife and mother earth. Killing weeds naturally with vinegar allows you to target exactly what weeds to eradicate, and it's cheap and easy to use.

Vinegar is not choosy and cannot differentiate between broad-leaf weeds, narrow-leaf weeds, grass, flowers or vegetables. If you're not careful when applying vinegar for weed control, it will kill whatever it touches. So although it's eco-friendly and biodegradable, it takes a little forethought to manage an effective application.



How to apply vinegar for natural weed control
The best way to apply vinegar for weed control is with a spray bottle or pump sprayer. These tools are most effective if you're wanting to eliminate large swatches of weeds on walkways, driveways or other areas where there are no other plants immediately at risk. Because vinegar is not selective, using it for killing weeds naturally should be done on a sunny day when there is no wind to prevent it from blowing onto other plants. Part of the killing process uses the sunlight to activate the vinegar; so check the weather beforehand to be sure it's not about to rain right after you spray. If you're trying to be very selective and kill small batches of weeds in among other plants and flowers, apply vinegar with an old brush only to the weeds being targeted.

Spray or paint the vinegar on liberally to kill weeds naturally. Leaves and stems should be soaked. Allow it to dry and wait for a day or two to see full results. You may have to reapply more vinegar periodically. Any type of vinegar will work to kill weeds and white vinegar is the least expensive. Keep several gallons in your shed so it's on hand when needed.



When to apply natural herbicides
Use vinegar to kill weeds before the weeds go to seed to prevent new weeds from growing. Catch them when they're small in the early spring. Alternatively, it's best to treat perennial weeds like dandelions in the early fall. Remove the seed heads throughout the summer when you see them. Spraying in the autumn uses the plant's natural cycle to absorb nutrients through the leave to the roots and allows the vinegar natural weed control to penetrate to the core of the plant killing it at the root.

Sources for this article include:

A Garden for the House: Got Weeds? Use Vinegar, Not Roundup
http://www.agardenforthehouse.com

About.com: Landscaping: Vinegar as a Natural Weed Killer
http://landscaping.about.com/od/weed...egar_weeds.htm

The Garden Counselor: Lawn Care -- Vinegar Weed Killer
http://www.garden-counselor-lawn-car...ed-killer.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/035750_we...r_Roundup.html

[johnuioyer]

+ there's a lot to be said for working with the weeds - being Grateful to God for the weeds -

* many weeds are edible. e.g. wild radish & wild bean & spearmint. i have seen them treated as if they had leprosy by some supposedly enlightened 'master gardeners'.
* let them grow, them cut them when they are of value protecting the soil from evaporation. the weeds protect the soil from drying out.
* grow them, dry them, burn them. e.g. Scotch Broom/ Brush. to some people this is a weed, but it has a natural resin, like pine sap, that makes it extra flammable. makes great fire-starter.


Fvck Monsanto.

[jisee]

I f you have weeds growing thru stones or near rocks its handy ,depending on the circumstances

[johnuioyer]

wild radish is known for being useful in breaking up really hard dry cement like soil.

the radish root makes room for itself. when the plant dies the soil is aerated, sort of.

[isopsmypovA]

Going to try this later today and see if it works.

[FilmCriticAwezume]

9% vinegar is no longer available, the strongest I can find is 5%. Anyone tried this?

[JohnImamadviser]

i've used the 5%, hoarder. it works. i've also used boiling water. it works very well too.

it's a great tip if you really don't like weeds. i just think it's a waste of vinegar. i use it for so many other things. i just pick the weeds as best i can. if some get by, let em be. some will argue that the veggies actually do better if you let the weeds grow. not sure about that tho.

[Sydaycymn]

i use salt. $.35 a jar at aldis. that, and rock salt. sprinkle it where you want stuff to die, add water to dissolve it, it never comes back.

[JohnImamadviser]

i use salt. $.35 a jar at aldis. that, and rock salt. sprinkle it where you want stuff to die, add water to dissolve it, it never comes back.

careful with salting. the last thing you want is a high concentration of highly mobile soluble salt in the soil. pretty much once the soils are contaminated with salt there is almost no cure, and the only plants that can grown near it is salt tolerant plants. Salt will kill just about all plants but it also makes it impossible for plants that you would want to put in unless you replace all the soil.

[acceraStoof]

Why not Coca Cola?

[Sydaycymn]

careful with salting. the last thing you want is a high concentration of highly mobile soluble salt in the soil. pretty much once the soils are contaminated with salt there is almost no cure, and the only plants that can grown near it is salt tolerant plants. Salt will kill just about all plants but it also makes it impossible for plants that you would want to put in unless you replace all the soil.

this is true. i use it sidewalk cracks, rock gardens, places where i'm never going to grow anything.

[Atmotteenrift]

I have this idea, that I don't have neither the know how nor the time or energy to develop. But wouldn't it be great to have a tiny weeding robot, solar powered, with a tiny camera that recognizes non-weed plants and attacks weed plants by injecting either a saline/vinegar solution or electrocute the stem of the weed close to ground, walking around in the vegetable field like an insect. Something like that would revolutionize farming like the tractor did when it came in the 20th century. Only very minute amount of salt or vinegar would be used and it wouldn't be sufficient to pollute the soil...

[JennaJJxoxoxo]

do you cut the vinegar with water are what ? just asking never try it before

[jisee]

do you cut the vinegar with water are what ? just asking never try it before

No not really but can add a little detergent helps.

[johnuioyer]

I have this idea, that I don't have neither the know how nor the time or energy to develop. But wouldn't it be great to have a tiny weeding robot, solar powered, with a tiny camera that recognizes non-weed plants and attacks weed plants by injecting either a saline/vinegar solution or electrocute the stem of the weed close to ground, walking around in the vegetable field like an insect. Something like that would revolutionize farming like the tractor did when it came in the 20th century. Only very minute amount of salt or vinegar would be used and it wouldn't be sufficient to pollute the soil...

chickens are sort of like that. they walk around eating all the green shoots coming out of the ground.

but - they don't just eat the weeds.