Weed Killer

karlitob

Hi all

is there anything to be said for this article on natural weed killer

https://www.everydaycheapskate.com/hands-down-the-best-way-to-kill-weeds-and-its-not-roundup/

roundup is expensive

thanks

No. Terrible stuff to be using in the garden. Non-toxic she says, tell that to the plants! But seriously salt, vinegar are regular features of these supposed natural weedkillers, they don't break down in soil, damaging it indefinitely. As for dishwasher liquid, just don't. Roundup is best used sparingly, if you absolutely have to remove a particular plant or group, it is widely used by conservation groups as the least worst option, breaking down in soil rapidly.

dePeatrick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058203858/weed-killer

I’ve tried the vinegar. And salt, not that impressed tbh…will try again though as I hate roundup. Problems with vinegar and salt is that both will leach into the soil and change the ph and preventing other things growing. Will still give it a go again though.

karlitob

Thank you both.

i have a fairly large patch that I wish to keep clear - as best I can of course. If vinegar prevents anything growing in the future then I might just give it a try as it’s a fairly large stretch near the boundary. I was shocked at the price of roundup - first time buying it to be fair.

karlitob

Anything to be said for boiling water? Has anyone used it before?

BorneTobyWilde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117755538#Comment_117755538

Yea, just add a tea bag and then put your feet up.

_Brian

Roundup is expensive to curtail its usage.

Repeated reports, including the most recent EU report show roundup to be safe. Safe as anything your spraying to kill off plants.

we use very little here at home or on the farm, but there are some areas that just need to be kept right.

ive read a few places that the vinegar salt mix works and will stop plants regrowing, what mix are people using and at what cost ?

Dempo1

Have to admit I used roundup for years and had concerns about it and its price. I've a small decorative stone driveway and parking area, my cottage also has road frontage and I've beds of shrubs etc around outside boarder, very rural location. The two areas I needed to keep moss and weed free were road side and driveway. Roundup certainly effective but I got thinking about table salt a few years ago.

Essentially cleaning debri build up along road side, and choosing a dry early evening, I sprinkle table salt generously around these areas and let it sit and dissolve naturally , over two to three days, it essentially stops any growth and kills moss. I use approximately 10 tubs (standard size, Aldi, lidl etc) @ €0.45 per drum annually. Basically less than €10 per year, no mixing just sprinkle.

Seperately in a small area, side entrance at gable end, prone to weed growth were oil tank located and not a space I plant or have lawn, I do the same thing, the trick is to allow a little weed growth, start of season and sprinkle a more generous amount of salt, again no mixing, just timing, best done on a dry evening with a short window of dry weather. Both area requires 3 treatments, last done around late September. It works a treat, no chemicals or back breaking weed removal.

As an aside, I've a few sandstone patio areas, moss growth a pain, same treatment works, albeit I do powerwash first. Also extremely effective algae treatment in areas that don't get much sunlight

RainInSummer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058203858/weed-killer

It's not expensive. I buy 5l roundup biactive which gives me 11 15L knapsacks full @ approx 33:1 dilution. Which works for my particular application and area. That costs me €51 delivered, which is €4.60 for a couple of hundred square meters.

You don't say which variety of round up, what your covered area is and what your use case is. In all cases it'll be better for the soil than the methods outlined in those misinformation articles.

And I'm no fan of Monsanto or Bayer I can tell you. They have a long history of scumbaggery.

To the user that thinks they're not using chemicals to clear their small patches. NaCl isn't a chemical? Fine that it's cheaper over a tiny area, but don't delude yourself that you're not doing lasting damage to where the salt leaches into.

Cost shouldn't be the only factor in decision making.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756451#Comment_117756451

Dumping that amount of salt into the soil is dreadful. It leaches and finds it's way beyond your patch of weeds. Environmentally it's as bad as some weedkillers and worse than many.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757150#Comment_117757150

The majority of the area I use the salt is infact gravel based with decorative stone on top. The area I treat on roadside is tarmac, I can assure you no soil area affected and I believe a far better approach than using chemicals. Also the actual amount of salt is tiny, I'd reckon not more than 6kg approx every 12 months.

karlitob

It’s a 45m long strip along the side of a boundary that’s hard to get at and is making its way through my fence. It’s somewhat wild on the other side, which is also my property

I want something cheap and easy (don’t we all) but I’ve no need to clear it away; just kill it. No other plants are near.

What I’ve seen is - a huge vat of water, mixed with a lot of vinegar and a lot of salt thrown in at the base would do they job.

I’ve also seen boiling hot water used which also looks promising.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757176#Comment_117757176

That salt is going somewhere or you wouldn't need to ever reapply it.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117758055#Comment_117758055

You are aware how weeds grow🤔

Of course the salt goes somewhere, downwards, your being pandantic so let's leave it at that, method works for me and I'm no longer using chemicals but equally not going permit weeds grow throughout my driveway and surrounds. I doubt asking them nicely not to come back would work 🙄

RainInSummer

So again, NaCl isn't a chemical? Everything is chemicals. We're chemicals.

Grand that it works for you, but don't justify it by saying it's not chemicals. Soil health is in part determined by microbes and micro arthropoda. Salt will damage soil health by killing these more than one of the most tested chemicals on earth.

But hey. Cheap.

Richie_Rich89

I've used big bags of salt on grass growing through cracked tarmac and it did the job. Might be better not to use on soil, though.

karlitob

Sorry to sound selfish but can everyone get back to me and my predicament. I just want a cheap and effective solution to clear weeds in a area that’s not easily accessible to me. The weeds are encroaching through my wooden fence and I want something

RoundUp seems fairly expensive to me and I don’t care about the soil - it’s not Kew. I was hoping to use vinegar, salt, washing up liquid and water.

i have some space under the fence so hoping I could slosh it in from underneath and it would do the job.

Any general idea of proportions, how frequently I might need to do it, if the base is best rather than on the leaves themselves. Thanks

Squiggle

Gallup or Touchdown will do the same job as Roundup at a fraction of the cost. I use a mixture of 200ml of weedkiller in a 15l knapsack of water and it's never let me down in killing weeds on paving, around hedging etc.

Bought 5l form https://www.thedandys.ie/search/gallup/1 last summer for €36 delivered but I've seen it since in my local Glanbia for €35.

Again, Glyphosate of some description, (non proprietary is cheaper) is best by far, if it's some weeds coming under a fence you won't need much. Really not expensive at all, you can purchase a spray bottle for a fiver. If you are sending household chemicals where they could damage someone elses soil, they won't be happy, and rightly so. Soil health is not optional when gardening, or even having a garden, it's the single most important thing. Far easier to bugger it up than fix it.