Want to murder those weeds? How about doing that with ingredients that you can easily find in your kitchen closet? Now we are talking!
Here are 12 home remedies that can help you kill the wild flowers that are eating up all the nutrients that you are trying to supply your lovely plants with. Not just that, these weeds are also killing your beautiful plants. Argg! It is high time we show those uninvited guests, what happens when someone messes with us!
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Read on to know more.
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Home remedies for weeds
Nothing is as bad as having weeds in your garden. We know that the struggle is real. These flowers rob your plants of not just nutrients and water but also space. Here is how you can get rid of the weeds without using chemicals so that you do not end up harming your own plants and the garden soil.
The 12 home remedies for weeds are,
1. Newspaper
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You can use newspapers to make a carpet of them and place it on the weeds to block the sunlight and oxygen they receive. This will smother the weeds that have already sprouted. This will also avert new ones from growing.
Use newspaper to create a 10-sheet layer. Place it on the weeds. Wet the carpet of newspapers to hold it. Now cover the carpet with mulch, an inch or two of it. If the weeds grow in the mulch, then add more layers of newspaper, as this will decompose in time and further nourish your soil.
2. Old Shower Curtains and Carpet Samples
These are useless things that are still lying around in your storage. So how about putting them to some good use? Spread the old shower curtains and carpet samples in the paths that have weed. This will avert the chances of weeds from growing by blocking their nutrient-supply and air-supply.
3. Corn Gluten Meal
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If you want to stop seeds from growing into weeds, you can use corn gluten meal, a corn by-product. This meal prevents germination of weeds. So just spread the corn gluten meal around the unwanted plants and those seedlings that have already taken hold in the soil. Once harvest season is up, spread the meal once again to avert late-season weeds.
4. Vinegar
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Vinegar has 5 per cent of acetic acid in it, which makes it a desiccant. For this reason, vinegar can suck out the life of those weeds that are growing in your garden or in your driveway.
Vinegar works best on young weeds that have immature roots. When you pour vinegar on these, the plants with waxy leaves just roll off. Try it on pennywort and/or thistle, if they are the culprits.
Before spraying, however, make sure you have covered the desirable plants. Vinegar does not discriminate when it comes to killing! So keep the spray on-target.
You can also cut off the bottom of a 2-liter plastic soda bottle and place it on the weeds you want to kill. Now pour the vinegar into the mouth of this bottle. This will prevent the vinegar from splattering onto other plants or veggies growing in your garden.
5. Vodka
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Vodka kills weeds! Or does it just make them drunk?!
In two cups of water, add an ounce of vodka. Now add couple of drops of dish soap to the vodka. The dish soap dries out the weeds that hog the sunlight. Now apply the vodka, water and dish wash mix on the weeds to kill them.
This remedy does not, however, work on shade-loving wild flowers.
6. Soap
Soaps contain oil which have the ability to break down hairy or waxy weed surfaces. Soap makes the weed vulnerable to desiccants. Just add about 10 drops of liquid dish wash to vinegar (you can also mix it with vodka), and spray it on the unwanted plants. Also, the leaves that you have sprayed on will turn shiny because of the soap, and so you can keep track of which areas and plants you have already sprayed on.
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7. Boiling Water
Once you make your morning cup of tea, pour the rest of the boiled water from the kettle on the weeds. This helps burn them up.
This remedy of getting rid of weeds comes in handy to fight the weed in the driveway and walkway. This is because warm water can run off water-resistant surfaces, and will cool down before it reaches the other plants.
8. Salt
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Using salt to kill weeds is best for the soil where you don’t want to grow anything long-term, such as the gravel paths or the pavement areas. This is because salt can make the soil unsuitable for growing plants n the future.
Mix half a cup of salt to half a liter of hot water. Take the solution in a spray bottle. Now spray the solution on the weeds.
An alternative method is to use dry salt. Just sprinkle a good amount of salt on the weeds and then hose them.
9. Bleach
Bleach is a great agent to kill weeds; however, stronger the bleach, faster will it kill the weeds. Around noon, when it is the hottest, spray raw bleach over the weeds, and leave it undisturbed.
A word of caution: Do not spray large quantities of bleach, as bleach residue can not only kill the weeds, but also harm your soil, preventing other plants from growing.
10. Baking soda
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Baking soda can improve the health of your garden. Apply baking soda in hordes on the weeds that might be growing in your driveway or the sidewalk. You should reapply several times, for the desired result.
Baking soda should be applied when the weeds are actively growing. This should be around spring and autumn. This remedy also works in summers, but not as fast.
11. Ground Covers Plants
Another important home remedy that you can use to kill the weeds in your garden are ground cover plants. You can use these to cover bare patches of soil to restrict the weeds from growing. These are good for a low maintenance garden. Also, they brighten up the garden while suppressing weeds.
The ground cover plants compete with the weeds for sunlight, water and nutrients. This keeps the garden free from the unwanted plants.
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12. Eat them!
Yes, you read that right; if you cannot kill the weeds, eat them. Most of the weeds are edible, like dandelion leaves, stinging nettle, etc. Dandelion leaves go very well with salads. You can also cook them or make an herbal infusion with it and cleanse your body. Whenever you plan to eat a weed variety, make sure you cross check about its edibility, and whether or not it is poisonous.
P.S.: If you plan to indulge in some stinging nettle curry, you should boil it first to get rid of the stinging.
That’s a wrap on home remedies for weeds. Did you find this guide on gardening helpful? Sound off in the comment section.
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