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Comment by algoatecorn | Hacker News Reader

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Has anyone here tried the bespoke home-made weed-icide made with vinegar + salt + dish-soap? If yes, was it effective?

A cursory google search suggests the internet is divided on this.

Often times you're reaching for herbicides to get rid of plants that are otherwise hard to get rid of. Those same plants are ones that thrive in poor soils and conditions. Adding salt will just make the soil even worse for plants you _want_ to grow.

I've tried almost every home remedy available combatting Japanese Knotweed for years, and targeted glyphosate and careful mechanical removal are the only methods that even make a dent.

Has anyone tried not using any pesticides or herbicides on their yard?

I haven’t dropped anything on my yard except for grass seed in 15 years and it’s fine. So what if there are some weeds on it.

Yeah, balanced fertilizer and water.

The goal is to get the grass to generate roots and then this will turn into a nice lush carpet. The thicker the carpet the more competition for resources.

I mow at 6" to keep germinating weeds from getting easy sunlight.

I prefer not to drop fertilizer either, I don’t see a need for it.

I did. The neighbors lodged a complaint. They didn't buy my theory that the field of dandelions could be turned into wine.

Oh that sucks. Luckily here the city even has flyers on how to have more natural lawns, which works naturally against grubs etc.

We have lots of dandelions, especially close to the street. So do the neighbors though they are the religious once a week mowers.

The trick I find is to let them be beautiful while it's mostly a sea of yellow and then mow as it turns into just ugly stalks with blown away seeds. And have a hedgerow so that you only need to mow the part between that and the street.

I've also sown in clover on purpose. Something many will try to eradicate. Stays green much longer and better in summers when the grass just turns brownish. Some neighbors around us irrigate. I refuse to do that. Very sandy soil to begin with (there's sand pits around) and grass on top of the septic system just doesn't thrive in hot dry summers. So we either get clover green, white and red or brown. Their choice.

Dandelions are pretty and seem to survive far better in my lawn than grass does. So dandelions it is. Can't imagine having neighbours that would complain.

Is that a homeowner’s association thing or a municipal thing? Either way, that sucks.

I have some dandelions here and there but you only notice them for a very short while.

Yes, I have close family that relies upon this method to clear weeds from between brick pavers. "Divided" describes my position well: the vinegar kills some of it, but the walk never gets fully clear. Contrast that with round-up, which would cause the weeds to whither and fall out and leave it clear for a few months.

It definitely smells better than round-up, and you don't have to think twice about it affecting pets...

You can also just use boiling water. Killing above ground vegetative structures is easy.

The problem for most people are perennial weeds with deep storage structures. It's very hard to kill those without a metabolic poison (or lots of labor over long times)

The safety data is clear, that mix is more toxic to humans. Vinegar works in high concentrations that are hard to buy because of how toxic it is. Dish soap generally doesn't biodegrade, so it builds up. Salting the earth is something you do to enemies when you want to starve them out and ensure their land is never useful again.

Yes, it will kill most things. Not great in the fields that need to grow grass for the horses to eat but works on most other things. I also use a propane torch mini flamethrower which is most fun on the Henbane. My disclaimer should I post incoherent comments at times...

Roundup even sells an "Advanced" formula which is essentially vinegar, salt and a surfactant!

I've used it, it successfully kills what it touches but it doesn't kill the roots.

> vinegar + salt + dish-soap

works great! But you need to use it regularly, weeds will grow back after a few weeks.

...or at McDonalds.

What about dementia and Alzheimer’s?

https://www.kpwashingtonresearch.org/news-and-events/recent-...

In this context "Roundup" means "collection". None of these studies are about the herbicide Roundup.

Sorry, I made the same mistake in another response as well. I meant to paste this.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03004...

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