Has anyone had success with a good alternative to Glysophate or Roundup type general herbicide weed killers? With all of the concerns (real or not) I’ve been trying to explore more natural or organic alternatives.
I mostly just spray my driveway and landscaping areas, but also at the base around fruit trees. My concern hasn’t been so much with them as with my own health and safety.
I sprayed this product about a week ago and I’m not seeing much for results. I mixed 5oz/gallon and I think it recommended 4-6. I see a little browning at the end of some weeds, but by this point I’d expect to see more progress if it was successful.
I’ve also purchased but not used this product which seems to be mostly salt. It’s kind of expensive at $9/gallon. It would probably be cheaper in bulk but I wanted to see if it worked first.
Has anyone found a good effective alternative? With my property I typically would use 2-3 gallons a few times a year. I also would try and use a hoe or pull weeds in between. I don’t mind using chemicals, I just want to keep them from hurting me too.
30% vinegar kills weeds here. I can watch them die. First you want to use a weed wacker and second wait until it gets hot outside. I often dilute about half water and a little dish soap. No salt unless you just consider that a dead zone you won’t ever grow in again. It will also kill off any microorganisms. I have some tough weeds here and Bermuda grass everywhere lots of clover too. Always know which way the wind is blowing and stand behind it. Not a bad ideal to wear rubber gloves and eye protection. The good thing about this is you can smell and feel it when you’re spraying many poisons you can’t.
I too am interested now that you mention it. Would vinegar hurt the roots of trees?
There’s so much fear and confusion over using both of these. A quick google search returned some reddit posts and those were just so ridiculously gloomy with some responders claiming acetic acid would basically salt (well acidify) the earth lol. Looking up the half life of acetic acid it seems to degrade easily and before glysophate.
I have a yard full of weeds I was thinking of nuking with roundup but acetic acid would be more convenient and I could save the round up for peskier more persistent weeds.
For your lawn areas- soil test with one of the universities and follow the amendment suggestions. This, in addition to putting down corn gluten when the magnolias start to bloom, has worked wonders for us. Went from virtually all weeds to lush grass in 2 years. No chemicals.
I usually switch between glyphosate and glufosinate. Glufosinate is generally considered very safe, and has the advantage of being a contract herbicide rather than systemic so any time in spraying where there’s a chance I’ll hit something I want to keep, I prefer glufosinate since if I do hit good plants just the sprayed parts die rather than the whole plant.
It struggles to control some plants though, so for them and to have an alternative to reduce the chances of resistance I use glyphosate as well and try to alternate between them.
I’ll also mention that my primary weed control is growing big, aggressive plants that can take care of themselves. I refuse to grow dainty three inch tall flowers or veggies that can’t ward off even chickweed, let alone bermuda grass. My second line of defense is mulch. Then the weed eater. Only after all that does spraying come into the picture.
I spray right at the rings here but not heavy. Lots of times I want to kill any seeds. Also I see the 30% at Walmart and Home Depot look in the cleaning section. You can also order it online. If you 40% online that’s very caustic and you have to pick up in store.
@Thark and anyone else that wants to try vinegar. Be warned if you have any fruits ripening up. I only spray early season because I’m afraid the vinegar will attract SWD and Sap Beetles. Anything else that is attracted to vinegar/souring fruits.
@Plants … last year I found the 6% in our Wal-Mart in the cleaning goods area.
There was nothing stonger here.
A few weeks back I was in our local TSC store and they had vinegar in 30 something percent strength…
That 6% worked very well last year on weeds… not so sure higher than 10% is needed on common weeds or grass. I will try out some 10% this year and see how it does.
It seems like using the weaker strength that accomplishes what you want… would be a little safer than the 30-40% options.
If 10% kills 90% of what you want to kill… you could reserve the 30% for those really tuf things.
I water mine down usually a little less than half water. So 10% probably would work. Or get the 30% and use 2/3 water. Also my regular pump sprayer seals seem to get ruined if you don’t clean it out very good after. I’ve even had sprayers ruined cleaning out with just water. Next time I’ll add some baking soda in the water when I’m done.
Glufosinate sounds like something good to try. Safer. It’s fine for me if doesn’t kill everything and some I have to pull or hoe, as long as it’s not everything. Or when the driveway cracks are loaded with plants.
I’m not sure what kinds of vinegar I’ll be able to find, but it seems like either 5-6% or something stronger perhaps diluted a bit would work well.
Knowing when I’m messing up and the chemicals are getting on me is not a bad thing! I worry about that sometimes.
I think a trip around the property to spray everything would be about 2-3 gallons and maybe I’m doing that 3 times a year. So with a few things to try even if one product doesn’t kill everything if it kills most and something else works on it that’s fine. A lot of times I’m only hoeing or picking weeds that are too close to some of the landscaping anyways, but it is nice to have some chemical killing power around edges and cracks and such.
Yeah, it’s still technically a chemical herbicide just like glyphosate, but the safety profile seems quite good. I personally don’t have much issue with glyphosate but I still really appreciate the fact that glufosinate is not systemic and it’s very fast to break down.
For what it’s worth, glufosinate is naturally occurring, it’s produced by certain kind of bacteria.
Domyown.com sells the concentrate for much, much cheaper than Amazon in a variety of sizes.
You might be able to order glacial acetic acid somewhere, it’s 99-100% vinegar. We use it at work for testing and boy does it clear your nose instantly if you get a wiff of it.
One glyphosate free option that we’ve found to be an effective “liquid death” is the broadleaf killer Crossbow. Of course it’s ingredients are likely more toxic than glyphosate, but jeez, you should see what it can do to Himalayan blackberries. A little squirt here and there and we murdered a 15’ diameter patch in record time.
Yes, I feel like at some point the concentrated vinegar gets to be more dangerous than the chemicals. I think I’ll try some of the 5-10% to alternate with the glufosinate and see how that works for me.
Photographers use glacial acetic acid by diluting it 3 parts acid to 8 parts water to make a 28% solution, which is then diluted further to maintain a desired pH in certain chemical baths, or to stop the action of the developer, which is almost always alkaline.
Anyhow, point being that if you buy the glacial form and cut it to the 28% it’s easy to cut it again to weaker forms. Cut 1:3 and it’s about 9%, 1:1 for 14% and so on. One of the readily available dilutions will do the job for you. Cut 1:6 for 4.5%, and it’s nearly the same as pickling vinegar, which is 5%, etc.
When I was still certified organic I mostly flame weeded. Also though for getting close around small trees where flaming wasn’t practical I used a few different herbicides. Limonene can be bought under many trade names,I know Avenger is one ive seen on store shelves. Also I used essential oils like Thyme oil and sterilants like Oxidate.
These are all contact herbicides so repeat use is necessary and getting the weeds when they are small is best.
With all these you can just increase the concentration for tougher type weeds.
That’s mind boggling. But believable. Didn’t the same company make Agent Orange, DDT and PCB’s?? Mmmm yummy Monsanto. I’ll bet a whole bunch of people said the same thing about those too but are dead now. It’s inconceivable how people treat life and trust these evil corporations with their loved ones let alone their own. But to each their own. I went to buy some lump charcoal the other day and they had Round Up cases in front of the charcoal at Home Depot. I just left and bought it at another store.
People also think fluoride is great and the heavy metals being sprayed over their heads every day are just h20 condensation. Wonder how you feel about pfas?