http://www.care2.com/greenliving/vinegar-for-poison-ivy.html
Vinegar for Poison Ivy
The land around our home is overrun with poison ivy. It is
everywhere; a vine has even wrapped abundantly around the tree
that holds the end of the clothesline so we can’t fix the rope pulley that is broken there. After a few years of passively
accepting that I can’t hang clothes on the line, or that
various family members get terrible rashes every summer, I’ve
decided to do something about the scourge.
I won’t ever use herbicides out of concern for health and the environment, so I’ve been trying out various “down home” remedies. This one really works.
Before I tell you about what I’ve found that works, let me
tell you of another alternative solution to herbides: Goats!
For some reason, Spanish and Angora goat breeds absolutely love
poison ivy. Make sure you get those particular breeds; most
others don’t like poison ivy for their main meal. I would
love to have goats, but my family won’t let me… !
Here is the homemade poison ivy vegetation killer spray
that I’ve found is safe and effective:
Poison Ivy Vegetation Killer
1 cup salt
8 drops liquid detergent
1 gallon vinegar
Combine the salt and vinegar in a pan and heat to dissolve the
salt. Cool the vinegar, add the detergent, and pour some of the
liquid into a large spray bottle. Spray the vegetation. (You can
also just pour the mixture onto the weeds.) Refill the spray
bottle as necessary. Note that this formula will kill all the
vegetation, so make sure that you are only spraying the plants
you want to kill. If you need to use a lot of this spray, avoid
spraying it near wells, as the salt can leach into your water
supply.
More from Annie B. Bond (3174 articles available)
11 comments
add your comment »
- Teri Williams says
- Apr 24, 2008 4:45 PM
I just sprayed the vinegar, salt and detergent solution. How long til I see results?
- Teri Williams says
- Apr 24, 2008 4:43 PM
I just sprayed the salt, vinegar and detergent solution on the poison ivy. How long til I see results?
- Penny F. says
- Mar 25, 2008 9:18 AM
Poison ivy just starting to emerge. We dug up a root that is YELLOW. Does anyone know what poison ivy roots look like? I cannot find any pictures on the internet.
- Nancy Crawford says
- Jul 29, 2007 11:48 AM
When you drill the hole and dump in the salt and vinegar, does it kill the shrub or tree that the ivy is climbing up, too.
- Roni Freels says
- Jul 16, 2007 9:18 AM
I don't consider Colorx to be a herbicide, though some mey disagree. I drilled a hole to the root of the poison Ivy and poured one cup of salt and 1/2 gallon bleach in the hole. It killed the root. Do not mix the two together. Pour the salt into the hole first and then pour the bleach in. It works! Please comment with your results. Also, spray your yard with Dawn Dish detergent, and Pine Sol. Equal amounts of both. Use a sprayer bottel hooked to your hose. This mixture takes care of fleas, beetles, and destroys ant hills. It also makes your grass greener, is safe on your flowers and plants, and your yard will smell great.
- Roni Freels says
- Jul 16, 2007 9:11 AM
I have a poison ivy vine that is taking over the shubbery right under my bedroom window. I tried the vinegar, salt and dish detergent(Dawn0, and it works. Like the others I am now concerned with the root. This may or may not be a good idea, but it works. I put a cup of salt into a gallon of bleach and poured it on the ground where the root is, and all the little new grown. It killed the root and the new growth that I missed with the other formula. Any comments will be helpful.
- Pat Oleary says
- Jun 20, 2007 8:12 AM
I am spraying the plants
yet the large 4" hairy vine that goes up the tree is also under the ground as a root and the
poison ivy still shoots up.
I have cut the vine going up the tree...so I assume it will die going up.
How do I kill the poison ivy root going down in the ground? Really appreciate you help
- Carla Bonney says
- May 26, 2007 3:17 PM
Thanks so much for posting this!!
ok...I just started my war on the poison ivy in my yard...just came in from spraying. Couple of questions; 1- will I need to do this a couple of times? 2- is it obvious when it IS dead? and 3- once the stuff is dead, I have heard that the roots are still potent. Anyone know how to get around that??
(off to try to research those questions...)
- Terrell Shaw says
- May 7, 2007 2:12 PM
The new edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors, the carnival of environmental education, is out. And your post is a part of it. Check it out at:
www.aloneonalimb.blogspot.com
and if you like it, I hope you'll encourage your readers to check us out. Please submit any posts you write about environmental education, in particular, or nature in general, to our carnival. Thanks!
Annie B.
Melissa
Jana
Kelly
Lily
Terri
Heather L.
Lynn
Carl
Betsy
Cait
Avery
The Gallands
Eric
Andrew
Deepak
