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vinegar does not kill anything but the leaves...never touches the roots. If it died monsanto would go out of business.
short of blowtorch and pulling you are stuck with chemicals which, when properly used and seldom used are not dangerous. i rarely use Roundup anymore. and try to pull them out.
So last week I decided instead of using Round Up, I was
going to try the White Vinegar instead.
I went to Walmart and bought 2 big containers of it.
It was cheap, compared to Round Up.
My cat lays on the back patio, it is made of patio blocks
and my dog is always out back with me, so I figured, I have
nothing to loose really.
So, I liberally poured the white vinegar all over the weeds that
had grown between the patio blocks.
I just went out there a minute ago, all the weeds are brown
and dead.
Now, new weeds have grown in the past week, especially since
we had a good rain.
But the old weeds are dead and brown.
So, I would say, go buy some vinegar and try it.
Get more than one, it's getting warm now, and weeds grow
fast.
If only my plants grew like that....
the grocery store kind of vinegar is too weak to do much good and definitely won't kill the roots. Vinegar will damage soil bacteria and kill worms. I'd rather have a few weeds and worms than neither.
I agree with no kudzu. Protect the worms and beneficial bacteria. And many broad leaf weeds like acidic soil, so I wonder if sometimes vinegar has the opposite effect.
I pull weeds from lawns and forest floor, string trim the ones that come up in pavement, and as others on city-data have advised, I get to know what conditions certain weeds like and amend that soil for lower or higher ph. I got rid of goat head grass burs out west that way, by lowering the ph with a lot of compost.
If weeds are really difficult to pull up, consider that either your lawn is too dense with roots and it needs de-thatching, or that the area needs to be mulched/composted. In really healthy topsoil, in my experience, weeds come out by the roots without too much pulling.
I know of many chem lawns that grow right on top of hard-pan clay; the fertilizers feed the weeds that like the alkaline clay. Experts please comment.
I don't think Roundup is okay at all. Both glyphosate and triclopyr have been linked to DNA damage in amphibians. The chemicals are persistent enough to run off and end up in watersheds. I come across enough peer-reviewed studies that conclude MORE TESTING is necessary to determine safety that I think going with the nature we know, mulch, compost, minerals, is a better route.
No, Vinegar works. However you have to use a lot more per weed than you would some herbicide. Often you have to make several saturation runs. Consequently, it is more costly.
But I try not use chemicals so it is an alternative.
Did anyone think to ask the OP if the weeds are in the lawn or in the flower beds? Because in a lawn, vinegar will be an unmitigated disaster, as will boiling water. And so would Roundup, for that matter.
Did anyone think to ask the OP if the weeds are in the lawn or in the flower beds? Because in a lawn, vinegar will be an unmitigated disaster, as will boiling water. And so would Roundup, for that matter.
OP hasn't returned - I asked for type of weed and location before the pickling mania began.
A little more info: Location: In the garden, in a lawn, in the cracks of the sidewalk or driveway, In your flower beds.
Before planting in the garden Use thick black plastic sheets and let the sun bake them and their below ground sprouting seeds. In the lawn before they start in the spring it is possible to use ground corn to inhibit weed growth I have not tried this myself.
In the sidewalk or driveway burn with torch (I have a flame thrower type) (I also use this in the garden away from the plants if I haven't mulched with grass yet ) or try the liquids mentioned by others.
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