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home made weedkiller
sybille
Posts: 76
I found an interesting recipe for a weedkiller without poison and it's much cheaper.
You can easily make it yourself:
1 bottle (568ml) white vinegar, 20g salt and a splash washing-up liquid. Mix it, fill it in a spray bottle.
I sprayed the weeds in my driveway and after 2 days they started dying.
If you need a bigger amount, here is the original recipe:
1 gallon white vinegar, 1 cup salt and a big splash washing-up
liquid.
0
Posts
Sybille - anything that kills something is a poison. The active ingredients in your home made weedkiller are acetic acid and sodium chloride - fine when sprinkled in small quantities on your chips - not so good for the myriad of tiny essential organisms in the soil when they come into contact with it.
Acetic acid (vinegar) will burn the foliage of small plants/weeds but it won't kill the roots. The salt will weaken or even kill the roots of some plants if applied in enough quantities, but it'll poison the soil around it and you'll not be able to grow other plants there for a long time.
Nasty stuff
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Sybille did say it was used on the driveway, but I agree about the other harm it may do. Whilst none of the ingredients are harmful to people in small quantities, the same may not be true of garden beasties.
You are right, it is a kind of poison. But I only use it on the small weeds who are creeping up in between the pavement gaps in my driveway and are very tricky to get out.
I woul not use it on soil !
For weeds in the pavement gaps you'd be better off getting a pre-mixed spray bottle of Roundup or similar. You can then be certain that the weeds are being destroyed right down to the roots.
My thoughts too KT53 - the homemade stuff won't kill the roots unless the salt is applied to the soil around them - which Sybille says she doesn't do.
Last edited: 07 October 2016 15:04:50
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The recipe I had was white vinegar and Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) with small amount of washing up liquid to stick to the foliage
1 gallon of white vinegar and 480mls of epsom salts.
That seems to work on some plants but not all. It works on grass and other things but does not touch those plants with deep roots, which are the troublesome ones.
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'
Do people think using chemicals that are not called weedkillers is somehow better than using weedkillers? If you're going to use chemicals why not use the one that's designed for the job?
If weeds are coming up in a drive there will be animal life in there as well. Some of it might be too small to see but all part of life's rich tapestry
In the sticks near Peterborough
The best and safest thing we have ever used is a weed blow torch. They die within 2 days and is the most affective thing ever It is bio friendly and whilst we have to buy the cannisters for the torch it is massively cheaper than buying weedkiller which more often than not does not work.
Good morning everyone
, hope you are all well and the weather is being kind to you all, blue sky in the NW here but chilly.
its my mum and dads Golden wedding Anniversary today
so we are going for a lovely family meal tonight to celebrate 
Whoops sorry wrong forum