6 Natural Weed Killers To Become The Number One Enemy Of Weeds

Weeds are only bad in name when you consider their benefits (especially when you eat them). In addition, they promote biodiversity. However, they proliferate quickly in vegetable gardens and can give an impression of a less than impeccable exterior. In addition, they can be greedy in nutrients, water, light and thus disturb the plants that you have intentionally installed. If you want to get rid of weeds without using mulch, tiring hand weeding or chemicals that are harmful to the soil, your pets or even you, here are six very effective natural weed killers!

1) Cooking water, excellent natural weed killers for gardeners

This is the simplest solution, but also one of the most practical and economical since you can use potato cooking water or pasta cooking water while still hot to perform the weeding. In fact, the starch in it harms the plants. In this case, it can be salted or not, as salt makes it easier to burn the roots. But above all, it must not be in excess for the environment, which could harm the soil and its micro-organisms. Pour it on well localized areas such as the tiles of the terrace. And above all, avoid applying it to plants you care about!

2) With corn meal

To prevent weeds from growing (especially dandelions), sprinkle cornmeal on the soil. Then let it do all the work of weeding out the unwanted plants without the need for chemicals.

3) With salt

In a spray bottle, prepare a solution of three parts water to one part salt. Be sure to mix well before spraying on the areas to be treated. You can also mix 2 liters of water with 3 liters of white vinegar and 1 kg of salt. Be careful, once again, salt is not an ecological weed killer. Indeed, it will burn the root system of invasive plants (bindweed, ivy, weeds, dandelion…). However, like chemical pesticides or chemical weed control products, it can also pollute the soil at too high a dose. So use this method sparingly!

4) With 70° alcohol

Prepare a mixture of one liter of water with five to ten tablespoons of 70° alcohol. Apply to the weed to be treated (or spray for more convenience in a large garden or vegetable garden).

5) With white vinegar, Epsom salt and dishwashing liquid

For this “recipe”, bring 4 liters of vinegar, 500 g of Epsom salt and 60 ml of your dishwashing liquid. Once the ingredients are well incorporated, all you have to do is spray. Alternatively, you can use just this herbicidal vinegar diluted in water (50/50 mixture) to be applied over several sunny mornings. Be careful not to overuse it to avoid acidifying the soil with its powerful acetic acid. Also, note that you can use black soap to help the plants cling better (2 teaspoons per liter of vinegar).

6) And for those lucky enough to have angelica, it is one of the best natural weed killers!

Very different from nettle slurry, which is an unbeatable aphid fertilizer, you can make an effective weed killer angelica slurry! Like the other solutions, it is also very economical. However, it requires a little more preparation. To make it, you need to gather 1 kg of angelica leaves and 10 liters of water (preferably rain water). Let the chopped leaves macerate in the sun for about 10 days in the water. It is ready to be filtered and used once there is no more bubble in the liquid. Finally, extract the dry weed roots by hand!

Please note: you may need to repeat the application of your chosen solution from the six above to get a perfect result on the unwanted weeds in your plantings.