Vinegar and weeds?

[Popcorn Lover]

My neighbor was telling me that you can spray vinegar on weeds to kill them.
Is that true?

My biggest concern is the soil. If it stays in the soil, will grass be able
to grow there after that?

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[Phisherman]

On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 13:16:07 -0600, Popcorn Lover
> wrote:

>My neighbor was telling me that you can spray vinegar on weeds to kill them.
>Is that true?
>
>My biggest concern is the soil. If it stays in the soil, will grass be able
>to grow there after that?

Yes. The vinegar will deteriorate after the next rainfall. I have
tried vinegar with limited success, but you may have better luck with
it. I pull weeds after a rainfall to limit use of a herbicide. Let us
know.

[Warren]

Popcorn Lover wrote:
> My neighbor was telling me that you can spray vinegar on weeds to kill
> them.
> Is that true?

You're not going to have much luck with the vinegar you get at the
grocery store. Those are only between 2-5% acid. They're already too
watered down to have much of an effect on weeds. The 20% mix you can get
for hoticulural use is what you'd have to start with.

> My biggest concern is the soil. If it stays in the soil, will grass be
> able
> to grow there after that?

If you paint the weeds, or lightly spray them, you aren't likely to
change the ph of the soil enough to cause later problems. Each rainfall
will wash more away, too. Just don't drench the weeds or the soil.

But even with the stronger vinegar, this isn't some magic cure for a
weed problem. It's probably best around acid loving plants like azaleas,
and for patches of weeds that are too thick to hand pull without
bringing up all the soil. It's not something that's well suited for
weeds in the middle of the lawn.

--
Warren H.

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[S Orth]

Last I heard about vinegar for weed control was that to be effective, it had
to be a stronger concentration, more like 24%, than what is available at
the grocery store, usually 5%. Also, it can change the pH of the soil and
doesn't do a good job of killing nasty weeds such as thistles at the root.
Here's some interesting info from Purdue:
http://www.weeds.iastate.edu/weednews/vinegar.htm .

Hope this helps!
Suzy O
Milwaukee, WI
"Popcorn Lover" > wrote in message
. 142...
> My neighbor was telling me that you can spray vinegar on weeds to kill
> them.
> Is that true?
>
> My biggest concern is the soil. If it stays in the soil, will grass be
> able
> to grow there after that?
>
> --
> - Popcorn Lover
> If you love popcorn too, there are no popcorn groups on usenet but
> there IS one in Yahoo Groups:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Popcorn_Lovers
> The internet's first-ever-in-the-world popcorn group!
> Share the word on making great popcorn - come join us!

[Salty Thumb]

Popcorn Lover > wrote in
. 142:

> My neighbor was telling me that you can spray vinegar on weeds to kill
> them. Is that true?
>
> My biggest concern is the soil. If it stays in the soil, will grass be
> able to grow there after that?
>

You can, depends on the weed. Works best when the plant's root system is
limited (e.g. confined to a sidewalk crack), soil moisture low, and
application is on a bright day. Regular 5% grocery store vinegar is fine
under those circumstances. Other applications may require higher
concentrations or alternative removal methods.

[dps]

Do it early in the year when the root system isn't developed fully.

Doesn't work well on grassy weeds.



Salty Thumb wrote:
> Popcorn Lover > wrote in
> . 142:
>
>
>>My neighbor was telling me that you can spray vinegar on weeds to kill
>>them. Is that true?
>>
>>My biggest concern is the soil. If it stays in the soil, will grass be
>>able to grow there after that?
>>
>
>
> You can, depends on the weed. Works best when the plant's root system is
> limited (e.g. confined to a sidewalk crack), soil moisture low, and
> application is on a bright day. Regular 5% grocery store vinegar is fine
> under those circumstances. Other applications may require higher
> concentrations or alternative removal methods.