Easy Low-Tech Way To Kill Weeds With Vinegar/Water Spray

by Texas Homesteader ~

Something with a single long taproot seeded itself prolifically in my front ‘flower bed’ last year. Now that spring is just around the corner, they all sprouted with a vengeance!

So that it doesn’t become a bigger problem I started digging out all the plants that I could reach.

But I was dismayed to see how thickly they were sprouting in my rock feature at the downspout. That digging stick wasn’t as effective in the rocks as it was in the soil.

And ugh, my aching back. What a pain!

I killed weeds growing in the rocks in just minutes. Gotta love a cheap, fast, non-poison way to kill hard-to-dig weeds! #TexasHomesteader

Wonder if I can use something I’ve already got? I have a spray bottle in my kitchen filled with diluted vinegar. I use it often for cleaning.

But I know plants don’t like to be sprayed with vinegar. Maybe this spray bottle already sitting beneath my sink containing only vinegar/water can help me with these weeds.

Now when I mixed up the vinegar and water into this spray bottle I didn’t really measure anything. It seems I poured in about 1/4 cup plain white distilled vinegar and the rest of the spray bottle was filled with water.

I use this spray bottle when I’m spot-cleaning a spill on the kitchen floor or cleaning the stove top. It’s a great non-toxic cleaner that’s in my Natural Cleaner Arsenal

Calm Winds And Sunshine To The Rescue!

So, I took advantage of a day with low wind & sunshine to kill those weeds DEAD! I slipped into the kitchen & fetched my vinegar spray from beneath the kitchen cabinet. I’m going to use this homemade cleaning mixture of vinegar/water to kill weeds.

I was sure to spray the leaf surfaces of all the plants that I wanted dead. And I was extra careful not to allow over-spray to drift onto any desirable plants.

Then I sat back & let the sunshine and vinegar do all the hard work.

The plants are completely dead now of course, but the photo below is a pretty dramatic before/after difference I saw in just a few hours!

Before & after weed killing in rocks. I killed weeds growing in the rocks in just minutes. Gotta love a cheap, fast, non-poison way to kill hard-to-dig weeds! #TexasHomesteader

When I’m getting serious with weed spraying I use my heavy-duty non-toxic Weed Killer Recipe. It’s the only thing I’ll use around the perimeter fence of my veggie garden.

But for these small weeds I didn’t even have to mix anything up – just fetch the spray bottle of vinegar/water I already had & get to spraying the weeds.

Gotta love a cheap, fast, non-poison way to kill hard-to-dig weeds!

And no hand-n-knees digging beneath that hot Texas sun either. Sometimes the lower-tech ways to kill weeds are the best.

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8 thoughts on “Easy Low-Tech Way To Kill Weeds With Vinegar/Water Spray

  1. Nancy Wolff

    Thanks for sharing your post on the Homestead Blog Hop, I am constantly encouraging folks to use non toxic methods to get rid of weeds! As one of the co-hosts I will be sharing your post on the Hop this Thursday!
    -Nancy ( Nancy On The Home Front )

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      It’s always in the bag for us to try the most gentle solution first, moving up the ladder only if that doesn’t suffice. More times than not the gentlest solution works. ~TxH~

      Reply
  2. Katy SkipTheBag

    I didn’t know that vinegar would do this…although I guess it makes sense! Thanks for sharing on the Waste Less Wednesday Blog Hop!

    Reply
  3. Heidi Villegas

    Gosh! I wonder if it will work on horehound! We are so badly infested with that stuff! It. Just. WON’T. Go. AWAY. I’ll be giving this a try! Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      It works best with broadleaf weeds on a sunshiny day, Heidi. But it’s non-discriminatory so be sure there’s no wind to drift the spray onto any desirable plants. ~TxH~

      Reply
  4. Mrs Shoes

    I use vinegar too; I don’t like to use poisons, especially near my gardens. The driveway runs right up to in front of my house; the gravel there has landscape fabric under it to keep weeds from growing. But that only means weeds from underneath; as dust & dirt blows around we get shallow rooted things taking hold & chickpea especially can spread into a large area quickly.

    Reply
  5. Laurinda Pudlo

    I had read that vinegar works, but it wasn’t from someone I trusted. Thank you!
    Although it’s too bad you don’t just add them to your salad- they’re a bitter green that’s good for you

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      Oh yeah, vinegar is the only thing we use around our garden area Laurinda, I’d rather tread as gently as possible on our little piece of paradise. ~TxH~

      Reply

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