Jump to content

Menu

homemade roundup....does it really work?


kfeusse
 Share

Recommended Posts

has anybody here ever used homemade roundup (aka vinegar, salt and dawn dish soap).....or another version of this?  Does it really work...or should I just go for the big guns and forget about being "all natural"?   I have a couple fairly decent sized patches of flower gardens that are covered in a grassy weed and I just want to kill it...and start over again...and I came across this homemade roundup recipe, but I do not want to waste my time with it, if it's not going to work.  So what are your experiences?? thanks. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Salt will close to permanently ruin your soil. So yes, it will work to kill weeds, but it will also prevent anything else growing for years, maybe decades. Covering with a tarp or black plastic for awhile (length depends on how hot it is), will kill everything and still allow you to plant later.

Edited by livetoread
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

I use cleaning vinager ( 20-30% not what most stores carry.  I get it on amazon.), cold pressed orange oil and water.  Mix in a sprayer and go.  It kills weeds and poison ivy. Then two weeks later, I can plant in the area.  

Could you give us the recipe/proportions please?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I skipped the Roundup and went for Crossbow.

We moved into a house where the previous owner and the owner behind us did not take care of their property. We had weeds, vines, brambles...you name it ...all along the property line.  I now know which OTC meds really work on poison ivy. 🙄

 

I bought Crossbow 

https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Ag-Specialty-Herbicide-Triclopyr/dp/B00D0JHB5K/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=crossbow+herbicide&qid=1558890958&s=gateway&sr=8-3

 

It's serious stuff but it works if you have large patches to deal with. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The easiest and most effective way I have found to get rid of weeds is to burn them.  Our local nursery had a little propane torch.   Obviously you have to be careful what time of year you do it and you need someone next to you with a hose but it doesn’t damage your soil, you aren’t dealing with poisons, and you don’t have to use gallons and gallons of vinegar (I have never found the vinegar method very effective.)   

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have used the vinegar mixture (I use an equal mix of 30% and 5% vinegar, then add orange oil and a teaspoon or two of spreader-sticker) and it does work well on most of our weeds.  I won't use Roundup or other conventional herbicides except in rare circumstances, and the vinegar mix is the best non-toxic alternative I've found so far.  I don't add salt, for the reasons mentioned above.  There is a need to re-treat more often than with conventional herbicides, as it often doesn't seem to kill the roots, but it's a trade off I will take. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have successfully used vinegar for a poison oak patch.  Just vinegar— not salt or soap.   Vinegar also discourages ticks which is nice. 

I don’t use Crossbow or Roundup type poisons.

 I think 

3 hours ago, ealp2009 said:

The easiest and most effective way I have found to get rid of weeds is to burn them.  Our local nursery had a little propane torch.   Obviously you have to be careful what time of year you do it and you need someone next to you with a hose but it doesn’t damage your soil, you aren’t dealing with poisons, and you don’t have to use gallons and gallons of vinegar (I have never found the vinegar method very effective.)   

 

 

Is totally correct— but I’m afraid to do it.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, ealp2009 said:

The easiest and most effective way I have found to get rid of weeds is to burn them.  Our local nursery had a little propane torch.   Obviously you have to be careful what time of year you do it and you need someone next to you with a hose but it doesn’t damage your soil, you aren’t dealing with poisons, and you don’t have to use gallons and gallons of vinegar (I have never found the vinegar method very effective.)   

 

Don’t burn weeds if there is poison ivy!  The bad stuff (I forget what it’s called) gets into the air and you can breathe it in.  You do not want that in your lungs.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, itsheresomewhere said:

I use cleaning vinager ( 20-30% not what most stores carry.  I get it on amazon.), cold pressed orange oil and water.  Mix in a sprayer and go.  It kills weeds and poison ivy. Then two weeks later, I can plant in the area.  

@itsheresomewhere Could you please share your recipe? I have English Ivy everywhere in one side of my yard and no chemical will kill it! What is the ratio of vinegar/orange oil/water do you use? TIA!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, ealp2009 said:

Absolutely, don’t burn poison ivy, you don’t want to breath that.  It sounded like just your average flower bed weeds.   

 

If you can get boiling water to the location, I think that’s probably safe to not cause allergic smoke or ash.  I haven’t tried it, but saw a demo of steam to kill other types of weeds

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have used the vinegar mixture for several years now.  I mix one gallon of vinegar with 1/4 cup of dish soap and 1/2 cup of salt. It kills most weeds and grasses temporarily and the salt does NOT permanently damage the soil. You need to use a lot of salt to do any permanent damage -- believe me, I've tried. 🙂  (I have an area where I don't want anything to grow, and I've used salt on that, but you have to completely layer it on and even then, grass will come back after a while.) 

I'm looking out my window right now and I can see a section of weeds where I applied the vinegar mixture a few weeks ago.  It was completely brown then, but after a few rains, it has come back. I was planning to mulch it all but didn't get to it quickly enough. 

The vinegar mixture doesn't work well on really tough weeds like thistles and poison ivy. I do use Round-Up for those.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

for non creeping weeds then I have had success mowing very very low. covering with many layers of newspaper or cardboard then covering with a very thick layer of compost then mulch. planting right on top. 

 please note that this does not work for creeping weeds like Kikuyu. it just loves it and grows right through.

 I don't have any experience with poison ivy as it doesn't grow in Australia.

  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, mathnerd said:

@itsheresomewhere Could you please share your recipe? I have English Ivy everywhere in one side of my yard and no chemical will kill it! What is the ratio of vinegar/orange oil/water do you use? TIA!

50% cleaning vinegar, 3/4 cup cold pressed orange oil, and fill the rest of the sprayer with water.  It must be cleaning vinegar not the stuff you buy in the grocery store. I haven’t used it on English ivy but it works great on poison ivy and weeds. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Original roundup (glyphosate) is effective because it kills the roots.  Killing the leaves with flame burning or chemical burning will not kill the roots of perennial weeds and they will come back.  Glyphosate has to be used correctly to work, it's most effective against plants that are actively growing.  It's not as effective against serious perennials as other herbicides.  Quack grass, canada thistle, vines, etc. will come back after glyphosate. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, PrincessMommy said:

I skipped the Roundup and went for Crossbow.

We moved into a house where the previous owner and the owner behind us did not take care of their property. We had weeds, vines, brambles...you name it ...all along the property line.  I now know which OTC meds really work on poison ivy. 🙄

 

I bought Crossbow 

https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Ag-Specialty-Herbicide-Triclopyr/dp/B00D0JHB5K/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=crossbow+herbicide&qid=1558890958&s=gateway&sr=8-3

 

It's serious stuff but it works if you have large patches to deal with. 

It kills blackberries 

It kills horse tail.  (Applied carefully so as not to kill the good plants next to it.  Can't do that with vinegar.)  

It kills maple saplings 

All things round up won't kill.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Kebo said:

 

This looks great,  but hard to find.  Do you have a source?

 

 

I linked mainly as something showing that vinegar works.  I’m not sure the product is substantially different than getting a high percent vinegar from Amazon though.

And my understanding is that at the percentage where it kills weeds, it is Strong! That one must be very careful not to get it in eyes especially,  or on skin.

 I haven’t ever done pouring and mixing, but I guess some on here have.  

The article links: 
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

In my June 7 column, I wrote about an environmentally safe, vinegar-based product called Blackberry & Brush Blocker, which works great and eliminates some brutally hard work tearing out pest plants. However, I failed tell you where to get it. If your own nursery doesn't carry this product -- from Greenergy -- they can order it through wholesaler Richard Erickson of Professional Turf Center, Tigard, Ore., phone 800-894-7333. Or you could call him to find out where it is being sold near you. (A lot more nurseries are carrying it since I wrote about it.)

Edited by Pen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

you're welcome to have it in your garden.  I don't want it in mine.

 

 Here it only seems to grow near creekside where soil is relatively poor and sandy. I wouldn’t use Crossbow at all, but most especially not near a creek.

 

As usual, most garden problems can be attributed to our soil.Horsetail grows in poor soil, so if you take the time to amend and increase organic matter it will help to eradicate this noxious weed.After Mt. St. Helen's erupted, the first plant matter that grew back on the blackened dead earth was horsetail.

Sheet mulching is a great option.Cut down your horsetail to the ground (preferably in spring when the fertile spores are up.) Cover it with thick cardboard, a layer of compost or sea soil, and whatever good mulch you have available.This will smother out the light and reduce the growth, while at the same time enriching the soil to make the conditions unbearable for your weed”

sorry link failed

Edited by Pen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Pen said:

 

 Here it only seems to grow near creekside where soil is relatively poor and sandy. I wouldn’t use Crossbow at all, but most especially not near a creek.

 

As usual, most garden problems can be attributed to our soil.Horsetail grows in poor soil, so if you take the time to amend and increase organic matter it will help to eradicate this noxious weed.After Mt. St. Helen's erupted, the first plant matter that grew back on the blackened dead earth was horsetail.

Sheet mulching is a great option.Cut down your horsetail to the ground (preferably in spring when the fertile spores are up.) Cover it with thick cardboard, a layer of compost or sea soil, and whatever good mulch you have available.This will smother out the light and reduce the growth, while at the same time enriching the soil to make the conditions unbearable for your weed”

sorry link failed

I'm familiar with where it grows, and poor soil and how to enrich it.  it's no where near water. I have shrubs and ground cover where it started coming up (in fill).  to do those suggestions, I'd have to rip out a lot of plants down to just soil, and start over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Pen said:

 

 

I linked mainly as something showing that vinegar works.  I’m not sure the product is substantially different than getting a high percent vinegar from Amazon though.

And my understanding is that at the percentage where it kills weeds, it is Strong! That one must be very careful not to get it in eyes especially,  or on skin.

 I haven’t ever done pouring and mixing, but I guess some on here have.  

The article links: 
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

In my June 7 column, I wrote about an environmentally safe, vinegar-based product called Blackberry & Brush Blocker, which works great and eliminates some brutally hard work tearing out pest plants. However, I failed tell you where to get it. If your own nursery doesn't carry this product -- from Greenergy -- they can order it through wholesaler Richard Erickson of Professional Turf Center, Tigard, Ore., phone 800-894-7333. Or you could call him to find out where it is being sold near you. (A lot more nurseries are carrying it since I wrote about it.)

 Thanks for the repy --  fyi, those links to Richard Erickson and Professional Turf Center are dead ends and don't produce any useful info.  I have used the DIY concentrated vinegar many times (and it does need to be handled carefully, especially the 80% that I bought a couple times!).  I was just hoping to have a commercial product to keep on hand for quick treatments when I'm short on time. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

we ended up weedwacking the weeds...and then covering them with newspaper and cardboard and LOTS of mulch.  I know there will still be weeds coming up around the edges...but at least it will be more manageable...I hope.  I didn't want to use chemicals...and I didn't want to hurt the soil either...nor did I want to wait before I could move plants around....I have very limited time...and so we just did it that way....and we are hoping for the best.  Thanks for all of the discussion.  If this doesn't work....I will come back to other ideas.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, kfeusse said:

we ended up weedwacking the weeds...and then covering them with newspaper and cardboard and LOTS of mulch.  I know there will still be weeds coming up around the edges...but at least it will be more manageable...I hope.  I didn't want to use chemicals...and I didn't want to hurt the soil either...nor did I want to wait before I could move plants around....I have very limited time...and so we just did it that way....and we are hoping for the best.  Thanks for all of the discussion.  If this doesn't work....I will come back to other ideas.

If it is close to your house-  get the cardboard away from it.  Termites enjoy cardboard, too. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...