Nuclear strength weed killer?

[knighty]

Yep just white vinegar wouldn't stick it on fish and chips

I bought some white vinegar to flush through a gas water heater at work to clean the limescale out


had fish and chips the next day and we'd run out of vinegar so I tried some of the white stuff.... didn't really have any flavour :-(

 

[Bravheart]

I bought some white vinegar to flush through a gas water heater at work to clean the limescale out


had fish and chips the next day and we'd run out of vinegar so I tried some of the white stuff.... didn't really have any flavour :-(

To give it its real name
ACETIC ACID!!!
Chip vinegar is more dilute.

 

[Seadog]

anyone get mares tails ?
i hit em with ammonium suulphamate and yes they die almost overnight , but it doesnt seem to get down the roots and another will pop up next to it , ive been keen to spray them asap for at the last 5 years and they come back just as much

is there something that gets down the root and will eventually slow/stop it

Ammonium S. Killed my mares tail with one application. Use a stronger concentration.

 

[steveo3002]

Ammonium S. Killed my mares tail with one application. Use a stronger concentration.

its mixed strong and like i say anything i spray is dead in 24-48 hrs....its just new bits keep coming up

 

[Seadog]

Maybe you have have mutant mares tail, genetically altered by the nasty, planet-poisoning toxins that are sold as weedkiller?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Just looked it up. You could just have said white vinegar, @Gragson.

Vinegar will burn/kill the leaf, but will leave the root healthy. Hopefully the salt will do its job on the root.

That is exactly what I found - the leaves burn up quickly so it looks 100% dead however the roots are safe and the weed recovers

 

[Seadog]

I have had 1000% success with AS. on everything from couch grass, through ivy, to mares tail. Use a surficant on the waxy leafed plants, i.e. a few drops of washing up liquid, to ensyre that the surfaces are thoroughly wetted for maximum absorption.

 

[steveo3002]

so your mares tails are gone forever ? or a new batch pops up next week?

 

[Seadog]

I killed it off in 2009, never to reappear. Apart from one stray that grew up through the decking about 2 years later. That, too, got the treatment and was never seen again.

 

[reb78]

Trouble is, ammonium sulphamate doesnt seem to be available currently

 

[steveo3002]

Trouble is, ammonium sulphamate doesnt seem to be available currently

bought some last week..1.5kg

 

[reb78]

bought some last week..1.5kg

How much? Prices seem extortionate if you can get it and decent quantities seem hard to come by.

 

[reb78]

Saying that Mistral now have 25kg bags back in stock. (I have a lot of weeds.... that need composting )

 

[steveo3002]

How much? Prices seem extortionate if you can get it and decent quantities seem hard to come by.

was about 11-12£ off ebay...put it in the watch list and he sends you a better offer

 

[Ross365]

That is exactly what I found - the leaves burn up quickly so it looks 100% dead however the roots are safe and the weed recovers

I think there is a place for weed killers below the nuclear level.

Vinegar / acetic acid is chemically very similar to citric acid, except that;

< citric is the stronger acid (chemically, more reactive)
< you buy citric as a 100% pure solid, and then make in to a solution of whatever concentration you want, so not limited to the strength of table vinegar

Finally or course, citric is damn good for getting rust off stuff, so dual use. That said, I've never got around to trying it!

 

[MattF]

Finally or course, citric is damn good for getting rust off stuff, so dual use. That said, I've never got around to trying it!

As is acetic. I've tried both, & I actually prefer the latter, (not that I'm fond of using acids), for rust removal.

 

[Ross365]

As is acetic. I've tried both, & I actually prefer the latter, (not that I'm fond of using acids), for rust removal.

Yeah, but there are acids and there are acids. So sulphuric and hydrochloric acids and similar are very highly ionised and want to react destructively with everything they come in contact with, including flesh. Acids like acetic and citric are barely ionised at all; at low concentrations, they're in all kinds of foods and drinks. Acetic stinks but citric has no smell, so in small workshop that's nice.

I once got some boiling 98% acetic on some jeans and nothing happened... until I picked them up the next day when they had turned in to "lace curtains" . I was lucky that day.

 

[Bravheart]

I have had 1000% success with AS. on everything from couch grass, through ivy, to mares tail. Use a surficant on the waxy leafed plants, i.e. a few drops of washing up liquid, to ensyre that the surfaces are thoroughly wetted for maximum absorption.

its mixed strong and like i say anything i spray is dead in 24-48 hrs....its just new bits keep coming up

@steveo3002
That's the problem you are burning off the green leaf too quickly before the chemical has been translocated to the roots. A surfactant will de-wax the outer leaf allowing the chemical to be absorbed into the plant and down into the growing points in the roots. With your extra strong chemical you are burning the green leaf and the plant just quickly shuts down the dying leaves and starts again a bit like trees do naturally in the autumn.

 

[Bravheart]

Should add a water conditioner reducing the ph will also help especially if using glyphosate and your water is from a limestone based area also I believe the temperature of the water has a bearing on its efficacy.

 

[steveo3002]

@steveo3002
That's the problem you are burning off the green leaf too quickly before the chemical has been translocated to the roots. A surfactant will de-wax the outer leaf allowing the chemical to be absorbed into the plant and down into the growing points in the roots. With your extra strong chemical you are burning the green leaf and the plant just quickly shuts down the dying leaves and starts again a bit like trees do naturally in the autumn.

i did wonder if thats what happening , i did try a weaker mix and nothing happened

i do use a dash of fairy in the mix