I recently had a lot of luck with an ‘organic’, ‘chemical-free’, ‘ultra-safe’ and otherwise very crunchy weed killer: vinger and salt plus dishwashing liquid. It’s billed as ultra-safe and ultra-effective and safe for the environment and also, free of that evil glyphosate. And surely, all of these things are true: it’s a very effective weed killer that, except for the dishwashing liquid, almost doubles as an awful salad dressing (not recommended). It really does kill weeds or any other plant you spray it on.

I bought my first two gallons of the stuff but went through it in a day, so now it’s time to find a recipe and make it myself: partially for cost, but mostly for convenience.

I’ve found a few recipes and they basically boil down to this:

  • One gallon of vinegar (any kind: apple cider, white, etc.)
  • 1-2 cups of salt (again, any kind is fine, but smaller kinds will disolve easier)
  • 1 tsp dishwashing liquid (this help the mixture adhere to the leaves of the weeds)
  • Citrus oil - several drops (completely option, but this mixture stinks and this might help somewhat and it supposedly has more weed-fighting power)

You’ll want to mix this up iand put it in a garden sprayer and spray the weeds that you don’t want to live (hint: all of them).

Warnings

If you repeatedly use this in the same area you will eventually salt the earth and nothing will ever grow there again. This makes it ideal for paver areas, driveways, sidewalks, etc. but less so for killing weeds in garden beds. You can remove the salt from the mixture and get similar effects (so I’m told).

Resources