organic way to kill large area of weeds.?

Comments

1. Matt D says:

   May 30, 2010 at 3:19 pm

   get the neighbor kid to pick em for ya. 5 cents each…

   oh btw in order for it to be organic, the soil has to be not treated with fertilizers or anything like pesticides or herbicides for five years.
2. wampum15 says:

   May 30, 2010 at 3:37 pm

   Try calling your state’s agricultural extension office or try contacting the Organic Consumers Association. I’ve found both agencies to be very helpful.
3. sandy121648149 says:

   May 30, 2010 at 4:19 pm

   Vinegar in a sprayer. My girlfriend found this out.
4. Tex says:

   May 30, 2010 at 5:10 pm

   Water well and cover with heavy black plastic,or several layers of lighter black plastic, wait for six to eight weeks and remove the plastic. Weeds will be dead. Important that the plastic is sealed around the edges and is thick enough so no light gets under or through.
5. KMG says:

   May 30, 2010 at 5:39 pm

   1 Qt very warm water 1 TBSP Gin 3 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar and
   1 tsp Ivory dishwashing liquid. Pour all together in a tank sprayer, or a hand held sprayer, shake well, and spray on weeds until dripping wet. Please apply this before 9 AM, every 5 days, and watch them wilt! You may have to adjust your PH with sulphur before planting lettuce, tomatoes, or bell peppers~
6. snowy_gush_gush says:

   May 30, 2010 at 5:46 pm

   The most organic way would be to pull them out your self. It would probably take long, but u wouldn’t have to do it all in one day. Unless u wanted to to, but if your like me who HATES pulling out weeds then it would be best to pull the weeds out little by little. Just do one area one day and then another area the next day, then another the next day and so one.

   That’s what I’d do and if u don’t have a weed puller u should get one because it makes it way easier. Here’s a pic of a weed puller:
   https://www.shovelandhoe.com/sc_images/products/689_large_image.jpg
   What I do is take the pointed part and stick it on the weeds stem and keep turning until the weed comes out.
7. Ro-bot says:

   May 30, 2010 at 6:36 pm

   Vinegar works well, hot vinegar works even better. We run the vinegar through the coffee maker to clean it, and then take it out and pour it on the weeds (it will pretty much kill any plant you pour it on). It can take 2 or 3 treatments for really established weeds with deeper roots.
   However, if you are planting a garden, shouldn’t you be tilling up all the grass and weeds anyway?
8. sparky says:

   May 30, 2010 at 6:48 pm

   boiling h2o
9. ohiorganic says:

   May 30, 2010 at 7:31 pm

   Vinegar will work as long as it is 15% or higher-the store bought stuff is 5% and not strong enough to do much damage to anything but newly germinated annual weeds-it will not effect dandelion, clover, burdock, etc..

   15% and high vinegar is pretty dangerous to use, you cannot breath it Because it will hurt your lungs and do get it on your skin for the same reason. You have to flush your sprayer out extremely well after use (like for at least 2 hours) or the acid will eat holes in the equipment.

   The best way to control weeds on new ground is to plow the ground/sod, than let that sit for 2 weeks than till the soil, let it sit for a week (but take out all clumps of weeds and destroy), till again, let that sit for a week than hoe lightly and rake the seed bed and you are ready to plant.

   After all this is done you will still have weeds coming up as the soil has a bank of weed seeds that will continue to germinate for years and years. to control this get a good stirrup (aka hula) hoe and hoe early and often when the weeds can barely be seen.

   The suggestion to cover the ground with plastic will work but this process takes 3 months to do properly and has to be done during the hottest part of the year (i.e the growing season) or it will not work. So if you are planning on putting a garden into this area this season this is not the technique for you. That said plastic mulch put down on prepared soil is very effective at keep weeds down all summer long but is not the same a solarizing the soil.

   Boiling water will work but this also kills a lot of life in the soil making the soil temporarily not so fertile. Not to mention, if you are doing more than say 100 square feet, unless you have large vats on big wheels you will have a big problem getting the hundreds of gallons you will need out to the garden plot. And this technique needs to be repeated at least one more time to be effective.