This is for morning glory (MG) vines that you can actually tell where they are coming from (ours come up from where the soil meets the foundation). I read about using white vinegar/Dawn dishwashing detergent to kill weeds, and decided to give it a try with this year's scourge of MG.
I took a quart plastic bottle and filled it to just over half with undiluted white vinegar, and drizzled lightly with the original formula Dawn dishwashing detergent. You don't need very much, it is a strong surfactant and its sole purpose is to allow the white vinegar to adhere to the leaves and vines. It is best to spray the vines and soak the soil (and where you see the vines coming up along the house, or wherever they seem to originate from). The point is that you want to soak the brand new tender growth. The sunlight also acts as a magnifier, and accentuates the 'burn'.
Within hours, you can see the foliage start to wither and 24 hours later it is more pronounced. It takes several days for the killing effect to happen, as the acid in the vinegar needs to be absorbed into the plant.
If the MG is invading an area that you are NOT trying to grow anything else, add a 1/2 cup of table salt to your dishwashing soap/vinegar mix in a quart bottle. The salt will kill most plant life (good AND bad, it does NOT discriminate), and will render the soil useless for plant life for at least 1 season (if you get a lot of rain, it may speed up the process of rinsing the soil). I tried this on some stubborn weeds, and it has been three years now. I am starting to see some weed growth, and I want to avoid planting 'good' plants until the soil looks like it can support life again. ***USE WITH CAUTION FOR THIS REASON***
Unfortunately, my MG problem is mixed in with plants I love, so salting the solution is not an option. Good luck to you!
Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
Every time I see any post calling for Dawn I wonder if a less expensive dish soap would work are well?
The reason that Dawn is suggested so often is because of the perception that it is more pure and therefore safer. That might have been more true in the past, but isn't necessarily true now. Many dish soaps, including Dawn, have added ammonia and other cleaning boosters. When you combine one of these dish soaps with another substance to follow a cleaning recipe, there can be unexpected interactions.
I believe that any dish soap would work for this tip because you are using such a small amount and it will be very diluted at the end. Just read the ingredients to avoid ammonia.
Dawn is the best and most widely known dish soap especially since it is available in extra strength. My mom used Joy and though it took a little more to get the job done it was just as clean in the end. The same applies for any other uses. It cuts the grease.
Please no ROUNDUP. Roundup is a big cause of new colony collapse. We need bees as pollinators and bee populations are in serious danger
I agree with you and I wish to add that roundup does not kill bees only, it kills others insects too and the birds that will eat the insects or any other animal that eats insects and also the gardener who uses the roundup or that will end up eating products that have been contaminated because Monsanto used to pretend that his product was biodegradable but it has been proven that it is not and that it remains a long time in the soil. In my country selling or using roundup is now forbidden by law. Until others countries make the same decision, do not wait for justice to decide, protect your health, do not buy, do not use it.
Will the vinegar and Dawn mixture harm my St. Augustine grass?
Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
