Vinegar may sound like a good alternative to chemicals, but you should think twice before using it.
By Margaret Roach, Rodale's Organic Life
The idea sounds well-intentioned: Stop using chemical weed killer, and spray vinegar instead.
(Whether you're starting your first garden or switching to organic, Rodale’s Basic Organic Gardening has all the answers and advice you need—get your copy today!)
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But
as with many home-brewed garden remedies and even packaged organic
ones, we need to ask whether science supports the theory—and if it’s
safer. Hint: There’s no scent of salad dressing in my garden (and no
chemicals, either).
Vinegar’s active ingredient, acetic acid, can be produced naturally through bacterial fermentation, as in apple-cider vinegar,
or industrially, via chemical reactions from such source materials as
methanol. But concentrations strong enough to be effective against
anything but the youngest, most tender weeds, vinegar is no longer a
food product but an herbicide called horticultural vinegar, and not so
friendly.
Related: The Politics Of Invasive Species
The Dangers of using vinegar in your garden
In concentrations this strong, vinegar becomes hazardous and can
cause environmental damage. Vinegar is a contact or “burndown”
herbicide, killing what it touches within hours or days. The worst part
is, it looks like it’s working, but then weeds resprout from the roots,
particularly perennial species.
[post_ads]That partial success worries Jeff Gillman, author of The Truth about Organic Gardening, because it often incites a gardener to continue using vinegar, even if it's not the best for his or her garden. The
gardener—seeing results but not entirely satisfied—often trades up to
higher concentrations, replacing household vinegar (5 percent acetic
acid) with a horticultural product (typically 20 percent).
Despite the signal word danger on most such labels,
gardeners may instead just see vinegar and be careless. Sobering
details: In concentrations over 11 percent, acetic acid can burn skin
and cause eye damage, and concentrations of 20 percent and above are
corrosive to tin, aluminum, iron, and concrete and can even cause
blindness. Such herbicides are meant to be applied while wearing goggles
and protective clothing.
And then, Gillman says, there is potential environmental damage—such
as to the toad or salamander shading itself beneath those weeds. “If
you’re talking about just-sprouted seedlings, and you go after them
right away with household vinegar, fine,” says Gillman. Otherwise, it’s better to reach for a hand cultivator than a spray bottle.
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How to manage weeds without vinegar
Wary of horticultural vinegar? Rightly so.
Instead, preventive mulches,
well-timed cultivation, and Jeff Gillman’s and my favorite
remedy—hand-weeding—are indisputably effective, and 100 percent
environmentally safe.
Additionally, here are more helpful organic weed control methods to help you skip the vinegar, and here are some more specific tips to help you get rid of crabgrass without harmful chemicals.
