Is there such a thing as organic weed killer?

[love11]

something I can mix and spray with a sprayer Anyone know of such a thing.

[soil]

yea its called mulch, and lots of it. say goodbye to weeds!

[gixxerific]

Most people reach for vinegar since most people have around the house and if not it is very cheap to buy. Though be careful it is non-selective and will kill anything you spray it on. So don't be spraying those pretty flowers in your flower bed.

From [url=https://www.moscowfood.coop/archive/VinegarKillsWeeds.html]this[/url] site comes the following quote.

The research conducted so far using vinegar shows that vinegar can kill several weed species at different growth stages. Using 10, 15 or 20% acetic acid concentrations, field researchers had an 80-100% kill rate of selected weeds, including giant foxtail up to 3" tall, common lambsquarter up to 5 inches, smooth pigweed up to 6 inches, and velvetleaf up to 9 inches. Using household vinegar (5%) produced variable results but seemed to be the most effective on Canada thistle where a 100% kill rate of the top growth was achieved. Re-growth from the roots, however, continued. Tim Prather, from UI, stated that you could achieve better results by spraying very small plants, 2-6 leaves. Continue spraying at two-week intervals. He's found that the maximum stage for the best kill-rate is the 4-leaf stage.

But as Soil states mulch is your best friend. But in those cases mulch won't work grab some vinegar.

[Toil]

and add the weeds to the mulch unless they spread from pieces.

[Gary350]

I put mulch on my garden once all the plants turned yellow because the mulch used up all the nitogen in the soil.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

raw mulch will use whatever nitrogen is available in the first few inches of soil if no other nitrogen is available for it to use to decompose. If you are gonna use raw mulches(like wood chips or the really expensive shredded woods) you're gonna need to top it with a few inches of grass clippings keep layering that every year, and you'll have yourself a genuine lasagna garden:D! Virtually weed free!!! If you don't wanna go that route, mulching with well rotted manures, or well rotted compost will give you weed control without leeching nitrogen from your plants. AND your plants will just LOVE you for it!

[LupinePredator]

raw mulch will use whatever nitrogen is available in the first few inches of soil if no other nitrogen is available for it to use to decompose. If you are gonna use raw mulches(like wood chips or the really expensive shredded woods) you're gonna need to top it with a few inches of grass clippings keep layering that every year, and you'll have yourself a genuine lasagna garden:D! Virtually weed free!!! If you don't wanna go that route, mulching with well rotted manures, or well rotted compost will give you weed control without leeching nitrogen from your plants. AND your plants will just LOVE you for it!

Being a real beginner, and having something of an aversion (okay, hatred) for chemicals being added to the environment, I have a question. This thread is perfect - answers things I really wanted to know. So, the setup, and then the question.

I have the following space available: a total of about 120' - 130' x about 6', and five 5' diameter tree "rings" for flowerbeds. I also have a small patch, about 6' x 4' for a few tomato and pepper plants.

The only thing' I've planted at this point is the tomato and pepper plants. I wanted to take this summer to learn, and to continue prepping my flowerbed areas.

I've seen a product called granulated compost. Comes in a plastic jug, and from what I can tell, it's actually meant to be mixed into the soil. Would be advisable to mix this stuff in with wood mulch? I I have a good source of that, and I use a grass catcher on my lawnmower, so I have a steady supply of grass clipping to top the wood with.

Or, is that unnecessary?

[rainbowgardener]

Re the original question about organic herbicides.

Vinegar, either regular or horticultural (more concentrated), is the commonest. You can increase its effectiveness by adding a little dish detergent (and in this case I do mean dish detergent, not soap!)

There are commercial organic herbicide (weed killer) products such as Nature's Avenger ( https://www.arbico-organics.com/product/Natures-Avenger-Organic-Herbicide/natural-organic-weed-control ) and Weed-a-Tak that are citrus oil based. The Weed-a-Tak is citrus oil with clove oil, cinnamon oil and lecithin as an emulsifier. This suggests that you could make a homemade version.

So you could combine these ideas by using citric acid or citrus oil AND vinegar. A lot of current household cleansers (spray on types) are citrus based. Mix some of that with vinegar and it should make a potent weed killer, or buy the commercial versions.

Mulch is still the ultimate answer. Once you get rid of the weeds, you need to mulch to keep them gone!

[Gary350]

A good organic weed killer is called FIRE. I have a 24 x 30 inch freznel lens. The sun makes a 5000 degree F spot on a weed and its gone in about 3 or 4 seconds. I prop it up on legs and us it to burn stumps as the sun travels across the sky every day it is like a lazor beam cutting slots through the stump over and over day after day until the stump is gone.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

The Weed-a-Tak is citrus oil with clove oil, cinnamon oil and lecithin as an emulsifier.

Use with caution...essential oils like clove and allspice contain between 60 and 90% Eugenol, which is a strong attractant to female cucumber beetles. If your garden is anything like mine, you'll be squishing cuke beetles till the cows come home...and that's without the help of Eugenol based oils

[rainbowgardener]

Very interesting! Thanks LA, I did not know that. Here's from the Wiki article on Eugenol:

Eugenol is responsible for the aroma of cloves. It is the main component in the essential oil extracted from cloves, comprising 72-90% of the total.... It is one of many compounds that is attractive to males of various species of orchid bees, who apparently gather the chemical to synthesize pheromones; it is commonly used as bait to attract and collect these bees for study.[3] It also attracts female cucumber beetles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenol

It must be in the WeedATak because it has herbicidal properties, though wiki doesn't mention that.

The Nature's Avenger is 17.5% limonene (citrus oil) and doesn't appear to have the Eugenol in it. Limonene is wonderful stuff... naturally occurring in citrus and other fruits, vegetables, meats and spices. It also is used in a variety of foods and beverages (as well as in soaps and perfumes) to add lemon-like flavor and aroma. So we know it is safe enough to eat. Yet it is used in eco-safe cleaners, in insect repellants, mosquito larvacide, has anti-microbial properties, and herbicidal properties. The Nature's Avenger (in case I'm sounding like a commercial, I have never tried this stuff) is reputed to work faster than roundup!

Here's the EPA fact sheet on limonene, which gives it a pretty clean bill of health: https://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/3083fact.pdf


But it only kills the tops of the plants. So some perennial weeds with deep roots can come back from the roots and need more applications.

[gixxerific]

I just read elsewhere that clove oil can be used as a trap for cuke beetles. They can't resist it, so caution using it is a must.

[garden5]

Mulch for the garden, table salt for the cracks in the driveway. Fill the cracks heavily with salt and you won't have any weeds for about the whole year. But make sure NOT TO USE IT IN THE GARDEN!

It will kill the biology in the soil and possibly make it sterile for up to 3 years!

[ronbre]

all of the above but also two others..fire and boiling water