Gardening News & Tips

Making Vinegar Weed Killer

The use of a vinegar weed killer is perfect of you If you have one pesky dandelion that you simply want wiped from existence. However, vinegar weed killers aren't selective and they kill other plants you want to keep if you spray the entire area.

To make matters worse, if you overuse the mixture of vinegar as weed killer on the soil, it has the potential to leave the soil sterile. That's because it not only kills the plants and roots of plants, if you soak the ground, it kills beneficial bacteria, frees up certain minerals and makes the soil acidic if it's distilled vinegar.

However, while apple cider vinegar can make the soil acidic, it contains certain nutrients that actually feed the soil according to the USDA. The apple cider vinegar has "significant amounts of potassium (730 mg/liter), phosphorus (80 mg/liter), calcium (70 mg/liter) and magnesium (50 mg/liter)."

If you're a bit confused, don't feel bad. The term that best describes how to use vinegar for an herbicide is "moderation." Use it directly on the plant, which you want to kill and not just indiscriminately dump a gallon jug onto the soil.

The recipes for making your own homemade vinegar weed killer vary and there are an abundant number available. Each one of the free recipe for vinegar weed killer has a little variation on the amount of vinegar you use. Some of the recipes arenot recipes at all but simply attaching a spray bottle to the jug of vinegar. Some of the recipes say that you canot use regular vinegar but need stronger vinegar like the kind used for pickling, but according to the Vinegar Institute, all you have to do is spray plain white distilled vinegar full strength onto the weed. If they show any sign of new growth, do it again.

Agricultural Research Service scientists studied the effect of using different solutions of vinegar on leaves. They used concentrations between 5 and 10 percent for plants in the first two weeks of life and had success. They found that the use of a 20 percent spray killed most of the weeds in the field but didn't harm the corn. Most household vinegar is 5 percent concentration. You can get higher concentration vinegar but not at your friendly grocers.

For home gardeners, the best cheap weed killer recipe is the simplest. Simply put vinegar in a spray bottle and add a little liquid soap to make the vinegar absorb more readily into the leaves of the plant. The vinegar is a desiccant, meaning it has the ability to remove moisture from the leaf. This ends up killing the top of the plant. You'll have to spray the plant a second time if it doesn't work the first.

The simplest recipes to use to make your own weed killer are always the best so here's the recipe for homemade vinegar weed killer:

1-bottle apple cider vinegar

1 dash of liquid dish soap

1 spray bottle

Mix the soap in the bottle with the vinegar and spray directly onto the weed. Repeat if necessary.

You can also kill weeds with simple boiling water. Simply pour the boiling water directly on the weed.

Go to Making Vinegar Weed Killer from controlling-garden-weeds