- checking login information
Loading...Vinegar for Poison Ivy
- Annie B. Bond
- May 25, 1999
- 5:12 pm
- 46 comments
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.
Read more: Nature, Natural Pest Control
Annie B. Bond
Annie is a renowned expert in non-toxic and green living. Named one of the top 20 environmental leaders by Body and Soul Magazine, Annie has authored four books, including "Home Enlightenment" (Rodale Press, 2005) and "Better Basics for the Home" (Three Rivers Press, 1999).
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
people are talking
TY
Thanks
Great list, thanks
...noted...
great idea, it will take a great effort to educate people and change the habit of throwing garbage a…
46 comments
+ add your ownCannot wait to try this. Read the same formula for killing thistles. It was recommended to cut the plant and then pour the solution onto the stump. The writer reported the stump dying that same day. Think it would be the same for PI. The problem is that the plant sends runners under ground and it may take some vigilance to get it all.
Vinegar salt mix works great. Wait for a hot humid day and it works even faster. Doesn't work so well after a lot of rain, a few hot days in a row and they will soak it right up. Great stuff. By the way, the bleach/peroxide commenter....mixed together that chemical reaction makes NaCl and H2O...salt water. Vinegar salt works better. Thanks.
Oh Godddd it burns! I thought this was a cure for poison ivy ... so I used it on my skin ... between my legs. Now my crotch is on fire. Awwww. Why? Why?
BEST CLEANER IN THE WORLD FOR CLEANING YOUR WINDOWS AS WELL AS GLASS TOPPED FURNITURE!
Thanks for the info.
Thanks for the info.
I use a gallon of bleach which costs a dollar plus a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Just spray on the leaves. It works to kill the poison ivy the same day. It will also kill other vegetation so be careful. I tried to use just bleach alone but it did not work as well. The cost is about two dollars a gallon. It beats Round Up which costs about $20.00 per gallon. So what if there is a little bleach on the ground. It gets washed away and much more is used in your laundry.
I use a gallon of bleach which costs a dollar plus a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Just spray on the leaves. It works to kill the poison ivy the same day. It will also kill other vegetation so be careful. I tried to use just bleach alone but it did not work as well. The cost is about two dollars a gallon. It beats Round Up which costs about $20.00 per gallon. So what if there is a little bleach on the ground. It gets washed away and much more is used in your laundry.
Thanks for the info.
Some people don't care if Roundup poisons their whole neighborhood so long as they make it easy for themselves. Monsanto makes Roundup AND GMO foods that POISON our food supply, and yet people are so ignorant and SO lazy, they'd rather let poisons like this into our environment because THEY won't be around to suffer from it OR they just don't give a damn. I sure hope these mindless people don't have any kids. I feel sorry for them.
login to add your comment
use your care2 login
add your comment