Home made weed killers, who here makes their own?

phatfoto

Giver of bad advice
Location
Tooele
Heard about this the other day and am going to try it. I looked it up on the 'net and there are about as many ways to do it as people posting. But the basics are 1/2 gallon pickling vinegar (higher acidic levels) salt or even orange oil, liquid soaps and water... What do you guys use for home made killers?
 

phatfoto

Giver of bad advice
Location
Tooele
Supposed to kill weeds and grass alike, so be careful where sprayed. Reading, I found that Roundup seems to be a supercharged fertilizer, that burns the weeds, but then, they come back with a vengeance...
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
I don't purchase roundup because I don't want to support the Monsanto empire. But that's a topic for another thread.
 

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wydaho
We've done the vinegar salt thing. Works very well and pretty fast too. Don't spray it on your lawn though... or just be careful if you spot treat.
 

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
What mixture of salt/vinegar are you gents using? We talking about grocery store variety stuff here?

We are putting down 3 cub. yards of gravel on the side of my house and have removed all the existing weeks and plan to put down a weed barrier cloth before we move the rock in. However, I'm weary that stuff won't continue to grow particularly along the edges. If I can brew up a concoction to spray down today before we put the weed mat down I'd love to give it a try.
 
R

rockdog

Guest
Used to have some stuff here at the school that killed everything for seven years! No kidding, nothing would grow on the soil sprayed with the stuff for seven years. Then a custodian oversprayed onto one of the neighbors yards. They had to dig the soil out of their yard and replace it! I was talking to one of the maintenance guys about it who owns a farm and he said the govment outlawed the stuff.
Probably leftovers from nuc testing in the 50s. :)
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
I've heard that heavily salting the ground will prevent any kind of growth for up to 7 years. For gravel, that's what I'd do.
 

nnnnnate

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Location
WVC, UT
My understanding of vinegar as a weed killer is that it only kills the leaves that it is applied to. Vinegar will kill the stuff above ground but won't necessarily kill the roots of the weed. It also won't stop weed seeds from sprouting. I get the whole Monsanto hate thing, but I quite like my roundup. Roundup is so effective because it is drawn into the whole plant killing it all and any other shoots that are connected to the same root system. The patent for roundup has also expired so other companies are offering basically the same product but without the Roundup name. Lately I have been using a product from Hi-Yield that is an "everything" killer. After about 7 days you can replant in the area that was previously sprayed. I also found some stuff at a seed supply place (Steve Regan in Murray) that would do the trick for a year. Both are concentrated and need to be cut down. I use a 2.5 gallon sprayer to apply them.

When I moved into my house the back yard (8800 sqft) had weeds as tall as the vinyl fence. I chopped them down and applied the killz all stuff a few times and was good to go. The front grass was mainly weeds too. I applied the killz all to it twice then re-seeded and it looks fantastic.

If I was putting down gravel and had something on hand I'd spray it before I put down anything but in reality you just dug out the area so there probably aren't weeds are seeds there anyway. The biggest benefit you will do to keep the area weed free is to use a high quality weed barrier, something contractor grade preferably. This is what I used when I put pea gravel down 18 months ago for my dogs business area. You can get it at some of the local nurserys, I have seen it at Millcreek Gardens and I think I bought mine at Steve Regan.
 
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STAG

Well-Known Member
At work we use a company called Buffo's to spray before we do some driveways/parking lots. They have this stuff that is guaranteed weed/plant free for 5 years. Obviously it's not homemade. (Maybe their own concoction though)
 

SAMI

Formerly Beardy McGee
Location
SLC, UT
Is it homemade if I mix water with it in a pressure sprayer? :)

I mix a little water with ferti-lome's Weed Out with Q. I swear by this stuff; I had my Magna yards looking pretty great when using this stuff. It's sasfe to spray on lawns and targets crabgrass and all broadleaf weeds.
 

RogueJeepr

Here!
Location
Utah
1 gall pump sprayer;
1/2 gall vinegar, 1/2 water , poured some salt for a few seconds, a bit of liquid dish soap.

Now my back yard smells like Vinagar . :rofl: . Well see what happens in the next few days . The test is on.
 
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