Gardening
Related: About this forumQuestion....do you think that a home weed kill remedy is better then Round Up?
It's made of 1 gallon vinegar, 1/4 cup blue dawn dish soap and 2 cups of Epsom salt. I live next to the Mississippi River and try to use only earth friendly products......so is this home made remedy better then round up? Just started using it, and it seems to be doing the trick,weeds are shriveling up, but wonder about Epsom salt. I'm hoping my remedy is much, much better then using round up.
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)CurtEastPoint
(19,149 posts)Damn crab grass. Damn Monsanto. Damn Roundup.
a kennedy
(31,984 posts)Mr.Bill
(24,762 posts)Cheaper, too.
a kennedy
(31,984 posts)Got that right, whew, round up is expensive......
hlthe2b
(106,203 posts)Vinegar alone kills weeds, dawn just helps it "stick".... As others here, I'm not quite sure you need the epsom salts but it shouldn't hurt.
a kennedy
(31,984 posts)littlemissmartypants
(25,277 posts)Round up is the devil's party drink.
N_E_1 for Tennis
(10,706 posts)Spray it on very heavy on a sunny day. Make sure the sun is on the weed for at lest four hours. You will have to reapply but it's all natural. Never used it (vinegar) with anything else mixed in.
Remember tho, vinegar is a herbicide. It will kill all types of growth. Aim well.
a kennedy
(31,984 posts)TygrBright
(20,987 posts)Not sure what the Epsom salts are supposed to do.
The one thing you have to be careful of is soil pH.
Vinegar applied too much, too often, may make the soil too acid for some plants, especially those in the carnation family, and rock garden plants.
Vinegar in high concentration (10% or more) is very toxic and very powerful. Be careful, wear protective gear.
helpfully,
Bright
sendero
(28,552 posts).... the epsom salt will actually help. We have found that some of our garden vegetables respond well to it!
The dish soap, not so much
The Velveteen Ocelot
(120,583 posts)a kennedy
(31,984 posts)Thank you.
NJCher
(37,743 posts)but it doesn't seem like the writer is up to date on the latest findings with Roundup (glyphosate). That stuff is scary. More and more comes out each day. It is not safe for humans or the environment.
It would be a cold day in hell before I'd use it. Besides health and safety, I also have no desire to make Monsanto even richer.
This just came out the other day. It is about how it causes kidney disease:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/24876-monsantos-herbicide-linked-to-fatal-kidney-disease-epidemic-will-ckdu-topple-monsanto#14050891884621&action=collapse_widget&id=2811367
Just do a Google news search under "roundup glyphosate" for further horrification.
My current solution for weeds is not the most environmentally friendly but being overwhelmed with house, work, trustee duties, etc., it's all I can do: weedwacker. I'm very careful to never let weeds go to seed and I just wack 'em when they raise their ugly little heads.
I think an ideal way would be to wack 'em down and then apply your home recipe so you have less foliage to spray. I may try that.
I used to hate noisy lawn equipment and I still won't use a leaf blower but my lawnmower is used once a month and my weedwacker once every two weeks, which I do not consider too bad.
I can get away with this because I've eliminated most lawn and I do a lot of mulching.
Cher