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.
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20 comments
add your comment »Good info. Thanks. =)
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why is this inappropriate?
Interesting!
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why is this inappropriate?
Have always used the water, salt and soap and it worked without thw vinegar.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
I've tried this several times and it dosen't seem to be working as well as I expected. Would adding more salt or more detergent help??
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why is this inappropriate?
THANK YOU! I jus ran out of roundup and really would like to try something safer. It seems that everytime I have time to spray, there's a little breeze. I hate that I'm breathing in the chemicals and that they are blowing all over the yard. I use a peice of cardboard to try to control the spray. I'd MUCH rather use this remedy. It's not only cost effective, but I'm not afraid of the nasty asthmatic effects the chemical sprays bring on. THanks you and I'll keep you posted on how it works for me. Glad to knwo it will kill most vegetation. I'll make this my new killer spray! Thanks again, Kristen
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why is this inappropriate?
A friend of mine gave me a nasty idea that may actually improve this.
She suggested cutting the vines, and dabbing diluted Roundup on the cut ends so that it would get drawn into the entire plant and kill it.
Do you think this would work with this formula? It wouldn't risk the surrounding vegetation, and poison ivy rarely grows alone.
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why is this inappropriate?
Never thought of that
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Why do you need the vinegar? A solution of salt water will kill almost any type of vegetation. The detergent would act as a surfactant and allow the salt water to get to more places; but what does the vinegar do. Without the vinegar; the poison ivy should die . Just wondered.
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why is this inappropriate?
It's hard to spray and only hit the plant you want to kill. If you don't want to spray and you don't mind chemicals, you can use a method called "stump painting." You cut the plant close to the ground and paint the part sticking up with the weed killer of choice. The poison is drawn down into the roots as well.It might work with bleach, too! I'd be interested in hearing about results.
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why is this inappropriate?
I just sprayed the vinegar, salt and detergent solution. How long til I see results?
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why is this inappropriate?
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