Vinegar makes good organic herbicide

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Published: May 23, 2002

Some home gardeners already use vinegar as a herbicide, and some garden

stores sell vinegar pesticides.

But no one has tested it scientifically until now.

United States Department of Agriculture scientists offer the first

scientific evidence that vinegar may be a potent weed killer that is

inexpensive and environmentally safe – perfect for organic farmers.

Researchers Jay Radhakrishnan, John Teasdale and Ben Coffman in

Beltsville, Maryland, tested vinegar on major weeds – common lamb’s

quarters, giant foxtail, velvetleaf, smooth pigweed and Canada thistle

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They hand sprayed the weeds with various solutions of vinegar,

uniformly coating the leaves.

The researchers found that five and 10 percent concentrations killed

the weeds during their first two weeks of life.

Older plants required higher concentrations of vinegar to kill them.

At the higher concentrations, vinegar had an 85 to 100 percent kill

rate at all growth stages.

A bottle of household vinegar is about a five percent concentration.

Canada thistle proved the most susceptible. The five percent

concentration had a 100 percent kill rate of the perennial’s top

growth. The 20 percent concentration can do this in about two hours.

Spot spraying of cornfields with 20 percent vinegar killed 80 to 100

percent of weeds without harming the corn, but the scientists stress

the need for more research.

Spraying vinegar over an entire field would be expensive.

But the cost could be reduced by 50 percent or more if vinegar is

applied only to local weed infestations, such as may occur in the crop

row after cultivation.

The researchers used only vinegar made from fruit or grain to conform

to organic farming standards.

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United States Department of Agriculture

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