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Thought 20 - Organacide

Turns out vinegar and citric acid to a most amazing job at killing broad leaf weeds.
Mixed about 28 oz of 5% vinegar with 4 oz of lemon juice. Spray the plants in the morning, after the sun has started shining on them. During the day the acid + sunlight browns the leaves to a crisp.

Note it take the round up about a week to kill off the same type of plants and requires the dogs to stay indoors for about 2 hours until it fuses to plants and becomes rain hard.

Cost break down:
Round Up = $25 for a gallon

Vinager = $3 for a gallon
Bottle of lemon juice $3 for 8 oz. (can get 5 lbs of citric acid for $12 but it'd require quite a bit more vinegar.)
Reuseable Spray bottle: $4

So:
$25 vs. $10.
Toxic chemical vs safe to drink.
1 week results vs end of day.

Just makes me wonder if I am missing something here? Is there something that the Round Up does better? does it not kill grasses? Add missing elements to ground? Not really sure, but so far the vinegar and lemon juice look to be a formidable combination.

Sorry, I have not truly started the organic vs toxic death chemicals in terms of the rest of the lawn. Though I did put down turf builder, weed prevention in the front yard, so it may just turn into the chemical section.

I really should find the camera so I can take pictures and mark progress.

Comments

CJ said…
Good Job Hans!
Did the lemon juice and vinegar kill crab grass too and the normal grass? The kind of round up I had used killed anything and everything it touched and you could see it starting to kill the weeds within 20 minutes. It was great when I wanted to clear out the whole side of the house before installing the pavers. But then I had to keep the dogs out of there and ended up throwing away my gloves for fear that I might touch something that the dogs might lick. I had some kind of weed killer that claimed to only kill the weeds and not the lawn but I never used it. I could never find the right time to use it when I could keep the dogs off the lawn for a week+. I would much rather use something non-toxic.
May 20, 2009 at 8:41 AM
Hans said…
Yes the lemon juice pretty much kills everything it touches. Basically it acid-burns the plants, which is in part why it works better on warmer sunny days it literally fries the plants. And of course while not exactly the healthiest thing to drink it won't kill you or the puppies.

I still need to do a full up test: mark off a couple of areas, spray, and take photos for a couple of weeks. Because really herbicides and the vinegar both works, it's now just a matter of effectiveness, side effects, etc.
May 20, 2009 at 6:06 PM
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