Zeraph

I have a mostly gravel yard and the weeds come out like crazy during the rainy season. I'd like to know a nice homemade weed killer that's quite potent, something that will kill the weeds with only one or two squirts from a spray bottle.

I've heard boiling water works well but I don't feel like boiling that much water.

After doing some research I found that salt, vinegar, bleach, and alcohol work best. Now the question is what combination of the above (or any that you may know) is the most potent? Any chemists here? Salt is neutral I think, since its what you get when you mix a base and an acid. Bleach is an oxidizer, vinegar is a...acid I think. Alcohol is..special? I'm thinking ~2/3 vinegar, 1/3 rubbing alcohol, and maybe a sprinkle of salt and bleach?

Although I think both salt and alcohol may be redundant, since (I think) they both kill the weed by drawing out its water. Anyone know which is more potent?

JStrider

I think salt can potentially poision the dirt to plants growing in it in the future.

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Willravel

Using powerful chemicals are certainly effective in the short term, but those chemicals don't really break down into something safe. They stick around. It's why I pull all my my own weeds (at least in my garden).

Though the idea of tomatoes off the vine having the flavor of vinegar and salt isn't a bad idea. Maybe you can add some olive oil pepper and basil to your concoction!

Slims

Um, you are probably going to pay more for your home made chemicals than you will if you simply buy some weed killer.

Bleach is easily turned into chlorine gas when mixed with the wrong acids, so you might want to avoid mixing it with your vinegar (though my chemistry knowledge has faded and I don't know what effect acetic acid will have). Salt will kill the weeds, but it will leech and will kill everything around them as well.

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Zeraph

Actually I've tried weed killers, they suck. Maybe I've just gotten bad brands, I dunno. They never kill em in one go though.

raeanna74

I got a grass fertilizer a few years ago that had a weed growth inhibitor in it. I put it on in the spring. I ran out before I finished EVERY part of the yard and I didn't have enough yard left to want to run out and get another big bag of it. So I left it. It was kindof cool to see the effect that it had on the grass. I found that where it didn't get enough water the grass burned so obviously you'd have to water it at least at the beginning. Later in the summer the grass where I'd used the fertilizer had absolutely NO weeds growing in it and it was darker and thicker and greener and grew longer, faster than the area that had not received any of it. I think the brand was Scotts but I can't be sure. I do know that it was a large - knee high - bad with a green label. I think it was called Lawn Fertilizer and Weed Preventer. I was very impressed by the success. If I had used it on my entire lawn I would have been weed and dandelion free completely and for the whole summer, with only one application. It seems to me that prevention is better than fighting the weeds all summer long.

As for the chemicals you mentiond, I would hesitate to use the vinigar but I'm not sure about that one. The alcohol would probably evaporate and dissipate quickly enough to not damage the soil for future growth but because of that evaporation may not do enough damage to the weeds. The salt would be a definate no-no. That's a pretty obvious one, because of the lack of grass on the sides of roads after winter. The salt is so damaging to the soil that just the run off from the melting snow on the roads pushes back the growth of grass and plant life on the edges of the roads. As for the bleach, I would DEFINATELY not use that. It seems to me that would be too damaging to the soil and probably other plants. I would recommend Scotts or Miracle Grow spot treatment if you don't want to go the weed preventor route. I have had reasonable success with those. Otherwise, I do go and pull Thistles and dandelions myself occasionally.

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SSJTWIZTA

i think it only turns to poisonous gas if you mix it with something that contains ammonia (ever pee in a toilet with bleach in the bowl? bah).

to the OP. you would probably be better off buying a weed killer or simply doing it by hand.

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First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
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PulpMind

My parents' yard was covered in ivy... after I spent 3 days making no real progress in manually pulling the weeds my parents called some Mexicans =P
A single guy showed up with a spray bottle full of gasoline. He spent a couple hours spraying all the leaves. Within a week, 10 years of ivy growth was dead.
Is it environmentally safe? Not entirely. But the petrol only goes where you spray it, and a diligent user could spend some time picking up all the dead plants covered in residue. Also, being realistic, a spray bottle full of gas is the equivelant of a drive to the corner market and back, and if you don't feel guilty about that, then don't feel guilty about this.

Psycho Dad

I've always had good luck with Roundup. It kills the plant's root and leaves the ground safe for replanting.

I've heard that this stuff is good: Pramitol, Bare Ground Weed, Grass Killer But that seems too much to me.

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SSJTWIZTA

Works for fire ants, too.

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First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

Push-Pull

Especially if you throw a lit match on it!!

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World's King

Did anyone else read the title as "Homemade Killer Weed"

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nomcat

Not just "Homemade Killer Weed", but *Potent* killer weed... yup it got me too!!

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Fly

well why do you think i'm reading this thread........

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SSJTWIZTA

Zing!

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First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

Xerxys

My Mexican can work for less than your Mexican....

biznatch

I've been resisting making this same exact post. Each time I go into General Discussion, I think "Ooh! A thread about weed? Homemade? Potent? killer? Sounds like something I'd...Oh. Fuck"

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Zeraph

Funny Sounds likes there's a need for weed on the TFP. Someone with more experience should make a post about tips and tricks.

moot1337

Vinegar is a very effective weedkiller because it changes the pH of the soil, and most weeds can't grow in overly acidic soil (most plants cant either, for that matter). It's a great solution for driveways and cracks in sidewalks, applied sparingly near concrete as it will dissolve that as well. Just pour some on the soil near the weed's roots and watch it die in the sun after a couple of days.

The change is completely reversible, too - unlike salt, where you've got to flush the ground with water 'till all the salt is gone, with vinegar you just mix some dolomite lime into the soil until the pH is corrected. Bleach, being a strong base, would counteract the effects of vinegar, by the way - use one or the other (I prefer vinegar, as it's more eco-friendly).

Also, the trick with Roundup and other weedkillers applied to the leaves of weeds: you have to make sure the weeds are actively growing when it is applied, and it can't be washed off the leaves for a few hours. Make sure to water them well during the summer, and apply on the morning of a nice sunny day. This way, the growth inhibitor in the weedkiller is transported all the way to the root of the weed, for a fast, complete kill. For the same reasons, it does not work well in the winter or during other periods of low growth (drought, no sun, etc.).

-m00t!

(edit to add: it is unwise to mix vinegar and bleach - chlorine gas can result, by the reaction 2HOCl + 2HAc ↔ Cl2↑ + 2H2O + 2Ac- (Ac : CH3COO))

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Oh, certainly, sir.

SSJTWIZTA

Seems like a job for the Fly and I.

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First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

biznatch

You know, I feel like everytime I mention pot, there's some silent disapproval. Maybe this isn't the thread for me to state why I feel like weed isn't that bad a thing, so I won't, but I would like to discuss getting blazed, the bud, the rolling, the skins, pipes, everything. I know I'm not the only one.

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SSJTWIZTA

if the higher ups are okay with the idea i'm totally down with starting a thread.

__________________
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

markd4life

Yeah, I fell for the homemade killer weed too.......damn, move a couple words around and you end up with this .....anyway, you can use diesel fuel man....it will kill anything...no mixing.

Fly

we're on the internet..........really we can all say what ever the fuck we want.





but yeah.....it ain't our house so.........asking is cool.

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SterlingStudios

Lindy

My Dad (he's Norwegian) used this, although he'd mix about half-and-half gas and diesel fuel. The mix would stick to the leaves better, and not evaporate as fast. Great for places like the cracks in the driveway or sidewalk.

Lindy

Also works on marijuana plants --you could call it a homemade killer weed weed killer.

ngdawg

I use vegetable oil. Put some in one of those bottles with a pinty nozzle and drizzle it down cracks in the driveway, sidewalk or pour some on a weed.
Better still was when I would use used dirty food oil.
Boiling water works for the short term by cooking the weeds to death, but something will come up later on.
Once you get rid of them, spread some Preen preventative to keep them out. That stuff works.

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dlish

not for less than indian or filipino maids around here though

FWIW.

maybe try something else. not sure how thick your gravel is..

maybe you might want to try taking the gravel off and putting some polyurethane sheets down, the stuff they use under concrete to stop moisture coming up. will act as a barrier and light inhibitor for the weeds.


i have heard of people using battery acid to take down pine trees. not sure on how safe that is though.

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