; Vinegar against weeds: an ecological option? - Blagmart Blogspot

Vinegar against weeds: an ecological option?


Vinegar and salt are well-known home remedies with which weeds can be effectively removed from the garden, but also from sidewalks and other surfaces. Even if everyone uses these funds in the home, their application is not unproblematic.

Quote: "A weed is nothing but an unloved flower." (Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American writer)
Vinegar against weeds: an ecological option?

Vinegar - a natural weed killer?
Almost everyone has a bottle of apple cider vinegar or vinegar essence at home, after all, the acid is very versatile in both the kitchen and in the household. It not only spices food but also removes limescale deposits from the kettle and bath and can even be used for cleaning - which in turn eliminates the need for expensive chemical cleaners.
Even in the yard and garden, the old home remedy should do a good job in removing weeds while also protecting the environment. But is that really true? Does vinegar really help against weeds? Whether and what is on this tip - and why you better not touch your beds with vinegar - we explain to you in this article.

operation
In order for plants to grow healthily, the acid-base value - the so-called pH value - must be in equilibrium. Because vinegar is an acid, it acidifies the soil and damages the cell membranes of the plants. Therefore, the household helper in the garden is not completely safe, as long as you use it undiluted and in high concentration.

A small dash of vinegar on a pot of irrigation water, on the other hand, lowers the pH and has no negative impact on weeds and other plants. However, they can soften hard water and neutralize lime, which is not always desirable in irrigation water. Vinegar is actually advisable for this purpose, but less so than weed killer.
If highly concentrated vinegar gets into the ground, it not only corrodes the roots of the weeds. Adjacent crops are also affected, so that both can no longer absorb water and dry up as a result. In addition, the soil acidifies when using vinegar, which is why you must counteract the decrease in pH with regular Kalkgab. All these side effects prohibit the use of the product, for example in the vegetable bed or in the flower beds - both of which you would then have to dispose of together with the weeds.

Combat weeds with vinegar

These advantages have vinegar against weeds
Many hobby gardeners give preference to old home remedies such as vinegar and salt, as they are supposedly more environmentally friendly than chemical weed killers . In addition, many brands of vinegar are available in the trade for a lot of money, which is why the Essigessenz seems to be a good alternative for cost reasons alone - after all, the effect of the commercial products is the same. Vinegar appears at first glance as:

effective against weeds
economical
easy to apply
safe for children and animals
The disadvantages speak against an application
No question, the benefits of vinegar convince once. However, the acid also has a number of disadvantages that speak against its use. The most important counter-argument here is the acid, because it passes through the soil into the groundwater and everywhere destroys the balance between acids and bases. In order to effectively apply vinegar to weeds, you would need to produce larger quantities - and they always have a negative impact on the environment. Other disadvantages are:

Effect does not last long
Weeds are often only superficially, but not packed at the root
Therefore, keep on driving
therefore, the application must also be repeated
Damage not only to the weeds
neighboring (useful) plants are also affected and enter
TIPS
Of course, the effects and disadvantages described here also apply to certified vinegar-based herbicides from specialist retailers. Although it is often advised to use these instead of the household vinegar, after all, they are tested and therefore safe, but that is window dressing.

Is vinegar allowed as a weedkiller in the garden?
Especially since the use of vinegar in the garden - especially in the combination with salt - for legal reasons is a delicate matter.
For a long time, vinegar and vinegar essence were used as pesticides when used against weeds and other plants. For this reason, their use on paved and otherwise sealed surfaces was prohibited. Since the Supreme Court of Oldenburg has taken this classification in a ruling of 2017, vinegar is no longer considered a herbicide - that is, as a pesticide, but still may not be used indefinitely in the private sector.

Both the chambers of agriculture and the environmental protection agencies hold to a ban on the use of vinegar for weed killing especially on non-cultivated land (terraces, garages, parking, etc.) and justify this with a violation of § 3 of the Plant Protection Act - a "violation of the good professional Practice". Such a fine can be punished with a fine of up to 175 EUR.
It is not an illogical chicane, but has tangible reasons: vinegar is biodegradable only in small amounts and lands quickly in the groundwater. However, this is not desired by the sewage treatment plants, as vinegar leaves can not be filtered out and, in addition, permanently change the pH value of the water.

application
Given the current legal situation, vinegar should never be used on paved and otherwise sealed surfaces. Even in the vegetable patch, the agent has lost nothing, after all, you want to eat your harvest afterwards. In general, before each use, check to see if there is not a better remedy without unwanted side effects - a few of which are clearly shown in the table below. However, if there is no alternative to vinegar, apply the old home remedy as described in this chapter.

Vinegar or vinegar essence?
In the supermarket you get different kinds of vinegar, each of which has a different concentration. For example, traditional vinegar contains up to six percent acetic acid, while vinegar essence is much more concentrated at up to 25 percent. Incorrect use of this concentrated acetic acid can cause chemical burns - not only on plants but also on your skin. Therefore, in case of use, be sure to observe the following safety instructions:

especially when spraying, wear closed eye protection
use protective gloves made of nitrile or other resistant material
Never use indoors, always provide good ventilation
never inhale the spray, otherwise it could cause burns to the respiratory organs
do not spray in windy weather
In case of contact, immediately rinse the affected part of the body thoroughly with water
if necessary consult a doctor (for example, if vinegar gets in the eye)
Considerably milder is apple cider vinegar, which can also be taken for weed removal in the garden. However, this does not mean that this vinegar is less harmful to the environment.

mixing ratio
You should not use vinegar more than twice a year, and only at a concentration of 100 milliliters of vinegar on one to two liters of water. This quantity is at the same time the maximum quantity that may be spread per square meter of area. By the way, the self-mixed weed killer will work better if you boil it before use and pour it hot over the weed. In this way you combine the action of acetic acid with the thermal. In addition, add a few drops of detergent to the mixture so that the vinegar mixture does not simply roll off the leaves.

Best time
Bring the vinegar out in sunny and dry weather, as rain would simply wash off the remedy from the leaves. In addition, the sun intensifies and accelerates the effect on the weed to be removed. You can observe that in a direct comparison between weeds growing in sunny and shady locations: In shade plants it always takes a few days longer until the leaves turn yellow and eventually dry up.

Incidentally, vinegar can be saved well by cutting off the above-ground parts of larger plants and simply sprinkling the remainder with the solution. In this way, you need much less of the remedy and thus protect the environment.

Instructions for spreading vinegar against weeds
When using the vinegar, the following hints are also helpful:

Spray only from a short distance
Best applied with a brush
only apply in spring and summer
only treat young plants before sowing
additionally remove seeds by hand
always use as small amounts as possible
never spray in windy weather

Vinegar against weeds in the lawn
To eliminate weeds from the lawn, vinegar is a bad choice. They are supposed to treat only the unwanted plants themselves - preferably with a brush - and in no case the directly adjacent grasses. But since this is almost impossible - after all, some of the acetic acid always gets into the soil and the grasses take it over - will also cause your lawn to wither and dry up.
Why you should better abstain from vinegar and salt
The combination of vinegar and salt is praised by some hobby gardeners as an insider tip against weeds - but beware! If the use of vinegar is a legal gray area, the use of salt in the garden is strictly prohibited and can be fined up to 50,000 EUR. The reason for this is as simple as it is plausible: salt not only changes the pH value of the soil, but also massively endangers the groundwater. In addition, nothing grows on a salinated soil - and your garden is gradually becoming a desert. So our advice: keep your hands off the salt!

Alternatives to vinegar
However you turn it around: The best and most environmentally friendly method against weeds is and remains the good old weeding or shuffling. Of course, such work is unpopular, time-consuming and laborious, but without any alternative. How much work the mechanical removal of weeds from the garden makes, the following video with tips for weed control without chemistry shows very impressively:

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