Question....do you think that a home weed kill remedy is better then Round Up?

[a kennedy]

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]

1. Better for the Planet? Hell, Yes. I hate Round-Up.

[MindMover]

2. Absolutely better and thank you very much for being environmentally friendly ...nt

[CurtEastPoint]

3. I made this same solution last week (minus Epsom...do I need it?) and they are shriveling.

Damn crab grass. Damn Monsanto. Damn Roundup.

[a kennedy]

6. Don't know if Epsom is REQUIRED, was just in my concoction.

[Mr.Bill]

4. Better? Yes.

Cheaper, too.

[a kennedy]

5. *nodding*

Got that right, whew, round up is expensive......

[hlthe2b]

7. Epsom salts is just magnesium sulfate and is actually a fertilizer (in the right amounts) for plants

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]

9. Thank you, next batch won't have the epsom salt.....

[littlemissmartypants]

8. Vinegar is my go to...

Round up is the devil's party drink.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

10. Straight white vinegar ...

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]

11. So don't use it with the dawn?

[TygrBright]

12. The vinegar will kill herbaceous growth, the Dawn will discourage various insects.

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]

13. If your soil is poor in magnesium..

.... 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]

14. Not necessarily. Check out this article.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/you-cant-escape-chemicals/372760/ citing this: http://weedcontrolfreaks.com/2014/06/salt-vinegar-and-glyphosate/

[a kennedy]

15. This a great article.....

Thank you.

[NJCher]

16. seems like a good article

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