All Natural Weed Killer

[DixyDoodle]

We have an abundance of poison parsnip in our area. We can cut some of it, if we're careful not to get the sap on us but some of it is growing between our yard and the fences, so cutting it down is difficult. Also, it's near our livestock, so putting a chemical down there is a no-no.

Has anyone had good luck with any natural sprays? I heard vinegar is good, but is it really? Do you have to really soak plants with it? Or maybe there's a better alternative?

Someone else said try salt water, but that might attract the livestock to eat it, right? Not a great idea.

Thanks!

[eclipchic]

we just bought some horticultural vinegar. Vinegar works on top growth really well from my limited experience. I can't say it's going to kill parsnip at the root level, it might but I haven't had to try it that way. I think my complaint about hort. vinegar is that so far the sources I've found make it pricey to use and really persistent vegetation will eventually come back.

[Ohio Rusty]

The no chemical weed killer that works every time is boiling water. Get your teapot boiling, and pour that boiling water over the weed or plant. The heat literally explodes the cells in the plant and root. And it is dead the next day.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[watcher]

Burn them with a torch. Works every time.

[tinknal]

Roundup! Safe for livestock and kills weeds for good.

[Haven]

I dump bags of rock salt in some areas. It will burn them out and slowly keep burning when it rains and more dissolves, like a slow release killer.

[DixyDoodle]

Originally Posted by Ohio Rusty

The no chemical weed killer that works every time is boiling water. Get your teapot boiling, and pour that boiling water over the weed or plant. The heat literally explodes the cells in the plant and root. And it is dead the next day.
Ohio Rusty ><>

I would need one heck of a big kettle! LOL I have the fence edge, plus a few spots in the middle, of a 10 acre field to do. The water wouldn't even be boiling by the time I got out there!

Using salt, I wouldn't be too keen on, only because I have horses in this field that might consume the plants that are dumped with it. I don't have another spot to keep the horses til it works.

Getting RoundUp here is very difficult now, last time I heard about it, you had to be a licenced farm, which we are not. It may even be a banned product now, as far as I know.

I will try the vinegar, though, and see how it goes.

This is what happens when the government bans the use of weed killer. The township is having big issues with posion parsnip, stinging nettle, ragweed, etc. Meanwhile, all the empty lots in town are full of noxious weeds because they can't spray them. The poison parsnip is everywhere, town, country, in all the ditches, etc. So even when you get rid of your own, it's all around us, so it creeps back. Ugh.

[DixyDoodle]

Originally Posted by eclipchic

we just bought some horticultural vinegar. Vinegar works on top growth really well from my limited experience. I can't say it's going to kill parsnip at the root level, it might but I haven't had to try it that way. I think my complaint about hort. vinegar is that so far the sources I've found make it pricey to use and really persistent vegetation will eventually come back.

I imagine that if I can kill the plants before they go to seed, it will limit how many come back. I'm not sure how many years old seeds can sit in the ground and germinate, but I can keep at it for a few years, and hopefully make a dent in the population. BUT all the neighbours have it also, so I'm surrounded by it no matter what.

[dirtman]

I don't know what poison parsnip is but if it is like poison ivy or poison oak then what ever you do do not burn it. The oils get into the smoke and will wreak havoc on you if you breathe it on get it on your skin, Been there, done that.

[monkeybackfarm]

White vinegar works well, just takes from 5 to 10 days to die. Use it straight,don't mix with water. Regular sprayings will prevent regrowth when you see sprouting.
Be careful with salt as it will sterilize the ground if enough is applied.

[City Bound]

Vinegar does work, I have used it before. If tha poison parsnip has a thick root then you might need a few applications to do the job.

Vinegar kills slugs also if you spray it on them.

[RonM]

Use Roundup, it works within a week or so.....We are having a problem around here with Kudzu on everything...growing up poles across wires, etc.....

[DixyDoodle]

Originally Posted by dirtman

I don't know what poison parsnip is but if it is like poison ivy or poison oak then what ever you do do not burn it. The oils get into the smoke and will wreak havoc on you if you breathe it on get it on your skin, Been there, done that.

Good point, it is VERY much like poison ivy, except it only produces blisters if you get sap on you and the sun touches it. If you can get inside RIGHT away and wash it off, and avoid the sun for I think 3 days, it will not blister. But of course, lots of times you don't know you've touched it and stay outside, right? The blisters are terrible even compared to poison ivy. The plant can grow to be 6 feet high.

I saw someone last year who had been whipper snipping their yard, and didn't know what poison parsnip was. The pieces of the plant splattered all over his lower legs. Such blister burns, he looked like he'd been in a fire. He will likel be scarred forever.

[DixyDoodle]

Originally Posted by RonM

Use Roundup, it works within a week or so.....We are having a problem around here with Kudzu on everything...growing up poles across wires, etc.....

I can't get RoundUp, it's a restricted product here.

So I guess it looks like vinegar is the first choice at the moment!

[ronbre]

fire boiling water vinegar

[fixer1958]

I tried ice melt disolved in water.
I mixed 5 gallons at a time. Put about 4" of ice melt in a bucket and fill it with water and stir the heck out of it. Then I put it in the sprayer, no granuales just water, ATV mounted type about 15 gallons.
Sprayed about a 1/2 mile under an electric fence with one bag of ice melt (20 lbs maybe)to about 50 gallons of water. That was 2 months ago and the grass and weeds are still deader than a hammer. It made the bugs kind of unhappy too. A whole lot cheaper than the commercial weed killer.

I tried burning, it works but short term for me it seems. Boiling water works also, but that's alot of boiled water.

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by DixyDoodle

Using salt, I wouldn't be too keen on, only because I have horses in this field that might consume the plants that are dumped with it. I don't have another spot to keep the horses til it works.

Salt won't hurt horses, the danger is that you will kill the soil.

[DakotaBrat]

A friend gave me this recipe that the parks board here were using It's 4 c. vinegar, 1/2c salt, 3-4 oz. dishsoap

[Haven]

I just use the rock salt or water softener salt in certain areas like under fence lines or over gravel drives. Would never weed a garden or dual purpose area with it of course.

I do have a gravel dog yard where I have been laying lots of salt in the spring for 4 years in a row, and the weeds still come up each spring. In my experience it has not totally ruined the soil yet - not sure how long it would take for that to happen.

[HeelSpur]

I use salt too that has been melted in a 5 gallon bucket.
Pour it in a watering can and pour it where it needs it.