Sunday, March 28, 2010

PS...

Has anyone out there tried using vinegar as a week-killer? I refuse to go the round-up route (even if it weren't like pouring poison on my soil, I will not support monsanto) but hand-weeding grass from cracks between bricks pulls up the bricks, and in other areas is just tedious (see previous post). I've heard vinegar, applied on sunny days and throughout the summer, will work without hurting the soil or anything else except the plant on which it is painted. Does anyone else know if it works? Will it work on grass? I expect most people are trying to kill dandelions and keep the grass...

thanks -- N.

4 comments:

  1. I've tried it and it works. Also scolding hot water. Put a teakettle on and let it boil good and hot, then pour it over the weeds.

    Last year I discovered beer is a pretty good killer of lamb's quarter. After a party I realized people had been dumping beer over the side of the stoop on my patch of lamb's quarter and where the beer had hit the leaves, they turned white. Then started to die.

    This is just anecdotal for now, I plan on conducting some tests this season and see if the results can be reproduced.

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  2. Resorting to beer just seems wrong. I wonder if rubbing alcohol would work just as well or better?

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  3. Rubbing alcohol may work too. I guess anything that damages the cells of a leaf would work and it seems like rubbing alcohol would do that.

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  4. I tried the vinegar on Tuesday and it worked! Today those leaves are browned. I c an tell I will need to do it again -- that it really just kills the foliage it touches and not the roots -- but I'm OK with that. I had a small disaster at the start. I put the vinegar in a spray bottle that sprayed very directly (I didn't want to accidentally hit other plants) and went to spray some grass that was growing between pavers -- and the first thing that happened was the vinegar bounced off the hard surface and went into my eyes. It may be benign, but it still burns like crazy in the eyes... but after that, smooth sailing. I =may apply a second coat today.

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