PINBUSTING: Pin #1 - Weed Killer

So first up to be busted is a pin I’ve seen many times since the spring. It claims that this combination of apple cider vinegar, salt and Dawn kill weeds better than commercial products.

I DO NOT have a green thumb. I kill houseplants. Almost anything green that enters my home meets an untimely demise. You might think that this would help dealing with weeds but it's not so. I’ve gotten better since we bought a house on an acre lot but I definitely have a lot to learn! Between the brick wall and walkways and plant beds that we have in the front yard there are tons of places for weeds to ruin our yard so this seemed like a great solution. The description on this pin says apple cider vinegar but the picture is regular white distilled. I bought apple cider though I honestly don’t think it would matter much. I bought a new spray bottle because mine were being used. I had Dawn and salt so as far as new purchase cost, only $6. Certainly more reasonable than many of the retail chemical weed killers.

I poured salt first, then dawn, then vinegar because that was what was convenient for me for my path out of the house but I would recommend adding the salt and dawn to

the vinegar while stirring to optimize dissolving. I would definitely recommend using a funnel to pour from bucket to spray bottle or doing this somewhere outside. Like usual, I did not think ahead like that. Right away the bugs hated it so that’s a good sign!

I was able to spray all down the side of my driveway, along the brick walk, the sidewalk in front and a huge empty plant bed which is tons of square footage, so again, definite value so far. A sampling of before shots…

I was spraying mid-day in hot full sun summer weather so that helped (my husband tells me the sun makes the leaves’ pores open to take in more?). By the time I had sprayed everything (which meant refilling the sprayer several times) I went back to the first area and some of the weeds were already wilting. Excellent!

Several hours later more wilting; we are in business! It rained buckets the next day but two days later there was even more wilting. Success! And TA DA! The after shots…

At least it seemed like a total success at first. Turns out the weed killer only killed about 50-60% of the

weeds I sprayed and the only reason I can come up with is that the different weeds resist differently. For some reason some types of weeds dies more easily. And when I pulled them up – ok pulled some up – it didn’t seem any easier so I don’t think it really got down to the roots. Hard labor = blah. But a clean slate in the front bed = awesome!

Bottom line – not a complete waste of time or $.

It wasn’t expensive, it was super easy and at the end of the day I feel a little better if my son eats something that’s been treated with vinegar and salt than some produced chemicals. I wouldn’t say it works better than a retail weed killer unless maybe you pour the whole bucket in a small area!! Oh and just a warning – it seemed to discolor some of the brick. Not in a super obvious way it just looks damp there all the time now. I tried to avoid spraying on or too close to non-weeds but I’m sure there was some over spray. The good news is my roses look just as lovely after as before which makes me happy. After all, we worry about the weeds mostly to keep our pretty plants healthy right?