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vinegar and "weeds"

Someone else suggested I use vinegar against thistles. However, I 
can't find information about how it affects other plants. It is nice 
to know that grass survives. I'm more concerned about forbs. I've 
seeded  areas around thistle infestations. Is painting thistle  with 
vinegar as effective as painting with round-up? Can I spray the 
thistles with minimal problems from drift onto other plants? In other 
words, will a coating of vinegar kill the thistles, while a few drops 
drifting onto nearby plants leave them unharmed?

Hmmm... I have a patch of crown vetch (over 50 feet across). I wonder 
if vinegar affects crown vetch.




>Has anyone tried vinegar as an herbicide?  Reading the
>following note I recalled the day my Mom sprayed aphids
>with vinegar & the plants turned brown & black. -kb
>
>(from sustaindane message # 1693 (click on "Fw:
>[midwestpermaculture] Fwd: Re: [grazersedge].." down
>in: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sustaindane/  )
>
><Vinegar is, according to this story, quickly becoming a
>popular product in the war on weeds.>
>>  > >
>I've been using vinegar on weeds for years. A couple of
>years ago I wrote an article on the web about a large scale
>use of vinegar on our new farm to battle thistles. The results
>were nothing short of spectacular. Our farm had been
>overgrazed prior to our purchase of it and the pastures had
>been overtaken by thistles of a couple different species
>(Canadian and musk). We sprayed once through, hitting
>each thistle. We had to reapply on only a few of the largest
>plants. The grass kill was minimal in the immediate area
>around the thistles, and the grass came back and filled in
>extremely fast.
>>  > >
>When I spray vinegar, I spray the plain distilled variety,
>undiluted. It seems to work best in full sunshine, and when
>sprayed on a sunny day the tops of the weed will be black
>within hours. On a few large, mature weeds, I have
>sometimes gone back a week or two later with a second,
>selective spraying for final kill. We found that the most
>effective application technique for the largest musk thistles
>(which were over my head in height) was to kick them over
>and spray the vinegar in the shattered stalk. The slight extra
>effort to do this resulted in little second spraying. I can
>spray thistles in a pasture and not have to kill all the grass,
>which is hugely beneficial. Best of all, I don't have to "suit
>up" in protective clothing and a respirator to use vinegar,
>nor do I need to worry about getting an MSDS sheet on it,
>as it is merely salad dressing. :-)
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  > >Gloria - Illinois Farmer
>>  > >Visit our farm website:
>>  > > http://hiddenoaksfarm.mybravenet.com
>>  > >
>>  > >Since time is important, please reduce the number of
>lines from previous posts you reply to, and use an accurate
>subject line.
>Post message: grazersedge@egroups.com
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>>  >
>>  > Mark P. Ludwig
>>  > Poultry Research Lab
>>  > University of Wisconsin -Madison
>>  > 608-262-1730 WK
>>  > 608-846-7125 HM
>>  >
>>  > =============================
>>  > * Midwest Permaculture Guild Listserv *
>>  > To read an archive of past messages, go to:
>>  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/midwestpermaculture/

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