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6 Natural, Homemade Weed Killer Recipes
Every gardener hates weeds and the thought of having to pick them out one by one is enough to make you move into a flat, depending on the size of your garden it can be some truly backbreaking work.
It sounds too good to be true to be able to make your own DIY weed killer at home? Surely you have the purchase weed killer from a shop to be any good?
Well actually you don’t, you can make home-made weed killers from household items that are just as effective as commercial weed killers, gardeners have been using home-made weed killers for hundreds of years and they do work just as good.
The benefit of home-made weed killers is that you know exactly what’s in them because your the one making them.
Table Of Contents
- Home-made vinegar weed killer
- Golden Swan White Vinegar for Cleaning & Cooking – Distilled White Vinegar- 5 Litre
- Golden Swan White Vinegar for Cleaning & Cooking – Distilled White Vinegar- 20 Litres
- 30% All Purpose Eco Friendly Vinegar – Organic – (5 Litre) Weed Killer & Cleaner
- Homemade salt and vinegar weed killer
- Salt as a Weed Killer
- 4Baking Soda as a weed killer
- Sodium Bicarbonate 2kg – Premium Food Grade (Baking Soda)
- Boiling Water A 100% Natural Weed Killer
- News Paper and Cardboard Weed Killer
- Be Safe
- What Are The Alternatives
1 – Home-made vinegar weed killer
That’s right you can use vinegar as a weed killer, vinegar is effective as a DIY homemade weed killer because it contains acetic acid. It’s best to use 5% acetic acid white vinegar, you can get 10%, 20% or even 30% acetic acid white vinegar but these are a lot more expensive.
What do you need for this weed killer?
- 5% White Vinegar
How to use
Well, just simply pour the vinegar directly onto the weed or pour the vinegar directly into a spray bottle and spray the desired weeds.
Depending on what weeds you’re trying to eradicate, you may see die off straight away, whilst some weeds may take 14 days before you notice die off. We suggest waiting 21 days before reapplying this weed killer.
Other Uses
If you make a mixture of half vinegar and half water you can use it as a general purpose household cleaner, and you can also use it to get rid of common household ants (Odorous ants).
It works on Odorous ants because they use pheromones to communicate, they place trails of different scents, by using this vinegar mixture you disrupt these trails, stopping the ants marching into your home.
CAUTION: 20% and above acetic acid white vinegar is considered an industrial herbicide and can cause chemical burns and even blindness if gets into your eyes.
2 – Homemade salt and vinegar weed killer
This is the DIY homemade weed killer that I use all the time, again it uses 5% white vinegar.
For this DIY weed killer recipe you will need the following
- 1 L white vinegar
- three large spoons of salt
- three large spoons of washing-up liquid
- spray bottle
How to use
Add the vinegar and salt into a spray bottle and give it a shake, once the salt has dissolved, add the washing-up liquid and give it another shake.
This DIY homemade recipe kills any weeds or plants indiscriminately and may turn your soil slightly acidic for a bit. For best results apply on a dry day when the sun is shining, before midday.
This is a natural weed killer that one can use and also the best homemade weed killer that kills everything.
3 – Salt as a Weed Killer
In Spain and Portugal before the 1800’s convicted traitors would have their lands salted as to make them infertile stopping anything from growing, starving their families.
For this weed killer recipe you need
- 2 parts salt to 1 part water as the minimum effective ratio.
- Spray bottle
How to use
Just add the salt and water to the spray bottle give it a good mix, wait until its well combined and spray the desired weeds or area. Then you can sit back and watch them weeds die. You can also just pour salt onto your weeds directly (We don’t recommend this).
CAUTION: Salt can be easily absorbed into the soil and if happens, it can prevent future growth in that area and sometimes, for quite a long time, this is why it needs to be diluted with water if your not using it on your patio, drive or garden path.
4 – Baking Soda as a weed killer
This one is fantastic keeping your drive way, patio or path clear of any weeds and grasses
What do you need for this homemade weed killer?
- Baking Soda
How to use?
Just walk along and sprinkle baking soda where ever you want to eradicate those pesky weeds.
You can even sweep it into the cracks between paving slabs.
Baking Soda makes the area inhospitable for weeds.
5 – Boiling Water A 100% Natural Weed Killer
This homemade weed killer will kill anything it touches.
What you need?
- Boiling Water
How To Use
Simply get a kettle and boil water in it, then go and pour this boiling water on those weeds you want eradicating.
It may take several applications to kill the desired weeds and they may not stay dead for long, it’s more effective on small weeds and seedlings.
6 – News Paper and Cardboard Weed Killer
All plants need photosynthesis to grow, and if you disrupt this process, you will eventually kill the plants. In this case this is done by blocking out sunlight.
What do you need for this DIY homemade weed killer ?
- Cardboard
- Newspaper
- You can use either one or both
How to use?
Well, you just lay done cardboard over the weed or lay down 4 sheets thick newspaper over the area that you want to treat.
This method is like mulching, eventually the cardboard and newspaper will break down and provide the ground with nutrients.
You will need to apply another round of cardboard or newspaper once the original layer breaks down.
Be Safe
Even though this list is composed of DIY homemade weed killers, please make sure that you wear the appropriate protective equipment.
Some of the items above can cause:
- Cause skin irritations and allergic reactions
- Eye irritation or burns
- Digestive tract reactions or damage