White vinegar as weedkiller

Danien

Our garden has quite a lit of weed build up as gardening is difficult for us.

I've bought some 20% white vinegar as I don't want to use roundup.

Is there an amount of time the vinegar needs to be on the weeds before it gets rained on in order to work. We've been leaving it to get some rain free days in a row, but that seems unlikely to happen soon. So will it work if it is sprayed on one.morning and then rains the next morning?

We can't pull the weeds ourselves due to disability.

Thanks for any advice.

Emmia

Danien said:

Our garden has quite a lit of weed build up as gardening is difficult for us.

I've bought some 20% white vinegar as I don't want to use roundup.

Is there an amount of time the vinegar needs to be on the weeds before it gets rained on in order to work. We've been leaving it to get some rain free days in a row, but that seems unlikely to happen soon. So will it work if it is sprayed on one.morning and then rains the next morning?

We can't pull the weeds ourselves due to disability.

Thanks for any advice.

I can't vouch for white vinegar, but the flame weedkillers (essentially a blowtorch with a long stick) are effective and chemical free.

twopenny

What sort of weeds and are there plants that need protecting?

If you can take a photo and load it that would be really helpful for giving advice and recommendations.

Brie

white vinegar wasn't affective at all for my weeds.  Agree with Emmia that a flame stick would be better.  Alternatively just strim them?

Emmia

 I've bumped off weeds on our patio with Jeyes fluid too, it says on the tin it kills plant life, and it does, but like roundup it's a chemical option.

Is there a reason you don't want to use roundup/chemicals?

Green_hopeful

Depending on the type of weeds and whether there are plants you want to keep you could strim and then mow the area. Not much survives regular mowing. Vinegar is just an acid so probably no better for the environment than anything else. There is probably  lots of wildlife living in your weeds but mowing will disturb them as well. After all the rain we have had I have had some wonderful luck pulling weeds out. Very satisfying to pull out dandelions and docks with a pop and a whole root. 

ArbitraryRandom

Acetic acid (aka vinegar) 'works' by damaging the leaf cell structure. On a hot day, a treated plant is unable to retain moisture and basically dries out. It's not a poison and it doesn't directly kill the plant (or, more importantly with perennial weeds, the roots). 

There are some recipes online for mixing with salt and washing up liquid - both of which will increase the rate of desiccation - but the amount of time the plant is in direct sunlight/the temperature is directly related to how successful the application will be. 

Danien

Emmia said:

 I've bumped off weeds on our patio with Jeyes fluid too, it says on the tin it kills plant life, and it does, but like roundup it's a chemical option.

Is there a reason you don't want to use roundup/chemicals?

I have 2 cats, they regularly eat the grassy weeds in the garden. Round up is toxic to them and to the environment generally.

Danien

Green_hopeful said:

Depending on the type of weeds and whether there are plants you want to keep you could strim and then mow the area. Not much survives regular mowing. Vinegar is just an acid so probably no better for the environment than anything else. There is probably  lots of wildlife living in your weeds but mowing will disturb them as well. After all the rain we have had I have had some wonderful luck pulling weeds out. Very satisfying to pull out dandelions and docks with a pop and a whole root. 

I should have said that apart from a border the garden is just patio and concrete. There is only one nice plant we would like to keep in the border.

I would consider strimming as others have suggested, if that might work, but won't the weeds just grow back? Would the area need to be treated afterwards?

I've not heard of flame sticks, I'll have to look that up.

We seriously have no gardening knowledge at all.

Emmia

Danien said:

Green_hopeful said:

Depending on the type of weeds and whether there are plants you want to keep you could strim and then mow the area. Not much survives regular mowing. Vinegar is just an acid so probably no better for the environment than anything else. There is probably  lots of wildlife living in your weeds but mowing will disturb them as well. After all the rain we have had I have had some wonderful luck pulling weeds out. Very satisfying to pull out dandelions and docks with a pop and a whole root. 

I should have said that apart from a border the garden is just patio and concrete. There is only one nice plant we would like to keep in the border.

I would consider strimming as others have suggested, if that might work, but won't the weeds just grow back? Would the area need to be treated afterwards?

I've not heard of flame sticks, I'll have to look that up.

We seriously have no gardening knowledge at all.

Is it that the mortar between slabs is also broken allowing weeds to thrive? Ultimately if that's the case (and you don't fix that) it will be a constant battle against the weeds whether you strim, flamethrow, use weedol, or pull them out.

twopenny

When I had cats and dogs and wildlife in a huge garden I used Weedol. It got right into the weed and down to the root.

It's supposed to break down in the soil.

I'd cover the area with netting until the plants start to wither - a three days after.

You could use garden fleece (poundland) to cover and weight with stones.