Topic: Hot water as weedkiller

[cassava]

New allotment, weed infested! Mostly willowherb and bindweed and I'm hostile to using weedkiller and 6 months is a long time to cover it all up with sheeting. Does pouring boiling water over weeds REALLY work? another website said yes.

Otherwise, do I need to grub up the willowherb roots like I do the bindweed?

[return of the mac]

Ive heard vinegar being suggested here- ill try your method too though. I reckon its time to post a query on what everyone else uses though.

[gavin]

Hi Cassava - and welcome! :)

Willowherb is pretty easy simply to pull up; there will be a reservoir of seeds in your soil - but a seed can only grow once!  Pull 'em up!

Bindweed - not so easy.  My bindweed comes from next door plot - covered with carpet for a couple of years :(.

I don't have a huge infestation yet, so I've been able, I think, to remove a lot of the roots - and I'm patrolling to remove every single shoot that appears!  I intend to outlast it :)

Good luck - Gavin

[Merlins Mum]

Welcome to the site cassava.

I try never to use weed killer, and never ever where I grow things we'll eat.  I just keep digging them up.  You can't always get all the root but next time it tries to grow I dig it up again.  Battle of wills  ;D

MM

ps - I tried vinegar but my oh pulled the weed up before I had a chance to see if it worked or not!

[lorna]

Like Merlins Mum I just keep digging them up and find if I use the hoe they dont have chance to grow. I know that is difficult where the plants are close together. I have found that the weeds between paving slabs out front of bungalow are the most difficult so I just keep strimming them.  Oh and welcome to the board. Lorna.

[lorna]

Like Merlins Mum I just keep digging them up and find if I use the hoe they dont have chance to grow. I know that is difficult where the plants are close together. I fhave found that the weeds between paving slabs out front of bungalow are the most difficult so I just keep strimming them.  Oh and welcome to the board. Lorna.