Using Lemons As a Weed Killer
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 05.31.06
We’ve given you a few eco-tips lately involving lemons: one was that they whiten your laundry naturally and the other was a homemade solution to help your dry hands and feet. Now we’re going to tell you that you can use lemons to kill those pesky weeds that are currently growing between your bricks and are just a pain in the you-know-what. We actually tried it just to be sure it did the trick before we reported this eco-tip to you. Simply douse the weeds with lemon juice and they will likely shrivel within a day or two. We found that they rarely need a second treatment. Other alternatives also include vinegar or boiling water. Try all three for those resilient ones that just don’t want to stop growing. Via ::body+soul
It's all about the acid. I've found that vinegar works pretty well, but in the end I gave up on the "cheap" solution and I now swear by BurnOutII, a mixture of high potency vinegar, clove oil and other extracts. It's not particularly cheap, but it works better than roundup on most weeds, and is the only thing I've found that will kill blackberries and morning glory. And unlike roundup and those other nasty chemicals, this stuff is 100% organic certified and actually *does* dissipate within a day or two.
Thanks for this tip. I love these sorts of DIY all natural tips for the home. Keep 'em coming!
This is an ecological nightmare, unless you live in California, Florida, Mexico, etc. Think about the amount of airplane and truck fuel required to ship lemons so you can have weed-free bricks. If you do not grow lemons, don't use them to kill weeds.
Vinegar is a giant industrial byproduct, with a higher likelihood of being produced near you.
Ultimately, remember that weed is all in our mind. Every other organism on the planet just thinks it is a plant. Learn to love it, or don't have bricks, or crowd it out with creeping ground cover. Who wants a sterile-looking driveway?
I atually have a lemon tree in my patio...and lots of weeds being ignored.
anyway, another lemon tip is that if you squeeze the lemon juice on freshly sliced apples, then the slices won't brown up, and they taste better. ;)
use salt to kill weeds in cracks!
Hey, how about getting down on the ground and pulling those weeds up with the hands that God gave you?!
A mix of the following products works best by far. It'll kill the weeds in a few hours during sunny, hot conditions. Put it in a sprayer and spray directly at root. Works 1000 times better than Roundup and is very friendly to the environment.
1 Gallon White Vinegar
1 Cup Salt
1 tbsp dish detergent
I have a large frontage on my house in Arizona and weeds are a problem and an expense. I also have a homeowners association that loves to write me letters when my weeds are visible and need attention. Is there any organic formula I can make up myself that will do the job and cost much less? I have been using Roundup but it is very expensive. Any help is greatly appreciated.
I (and I am sure others) would love to have the time and energy to use my "God given hands to pull the weeds" but SOME of us have children/families and many other responsibilities that prohibit such simplistic measures.
I have also used equals parts rock salt (not table salt) & water in a spray bottle. **Make sure the rock salt is completely dissolved prior to adminiistering spray to avoid clogging the sprayer.
I (and I am sure others) would love to have the time and energy to use my "God given hands to pull the weeds" but SOME of us have children/families and many other responsibilities that prohibit such simplistic measures.
I have also used equals parts rock salt (not table salt) & water in a spray bottle. **Make sure the rock salt is completely dissolved prior to adminiistering spray to avoid clogging the sprayer.
Omg thank you for the vinegar solution recipe. I too would love to pull weeds all day. However, I am pregnant and that would be daunting. I still intend to pull the weeds up but I need a little help via the vinegar. Being pregnant outlaws the use of any chemical or poison so I am truely grateful for the alternative. ps..If you really enjoy pulling weeds so much, could you come over and do mine. :) Thanks again, Farmer Gal.