Allotments 4 All

Hi all, I am looking for an alternative weed killer to glysophate. I am wary about ammonium sulphate, having done some research that told me it is not as safe as first thought, but have seen on the web the use of white vinegar. I was wondering if any one has used or does use this as the base for their weed killer. It seem to work quickly from what I have seen and they say the only problem is it could turn the soil a bit more acidic. Any thoughts/ comments would be most welcome as I find my way around.

Can you not just hoe regularly and then cover up unplanted soil with cardboard or something else that will block light.   Any chemical you use is not going to be benign, however mild it may seem, and is going to be harmful to essential micro organisms in the soil.

Stop digging and refreshing your weed load from the accumulated soilbank for weeds!

Hi Ya,  I am asking about the weedkiller as I have been down for 6 months with restricted movement due to an operation that didn't go to plan. The weeds have just gone mad and while I do only dig if required and I di have black plastic down I need to clear mainly grass under fruit trees and bushes. Not only that but I may not dig but others do then their weed seeds blow onto my plot. I have got some ground cover to use and plant though but I am trying to recover slow time but need some help. I will get there and have done a lot of weeding by hand on the ground I am planting out. In fact weeding my overwintering brassicas I was pleasantly surprised how well they have done  inspite of the weeds. As I say it is the more difficult areas I am looking to do.

Try white vinegar, its pretty cheap but does not translocate into the plant it works by burning off the foliage.

Hi Lezelle.  I just wondered why you have decided to exclude Glysophate in particular - are you worried about it?

Look out for Lidl/Aldi doing the lpg weedtorch, if you dont want to poison.

Hi ya, I have no problem with glysophate but I am looking for alternatives. So far what I have found out about the so called natural killers are just as bad if not worse than glysphate. I may go for the weed suppressant material but will find out if I do can it be moved each season or once it is down must it stay there. I also get friends who pick some dandelions as they know I have not used weedkiller for well over a year to feed tortoise etc. It's just I have been down and the weeds have got away. The worst bit is in the fruit patch so I am reluctant to use some killers. Perhaps I will just go at slow time and get some help from time to time. Cheers

Weed torch on offer at Lidl this week till Thursday at £14.99, extra cartridge £2.99.

Tricia 

Hi. When we took on our new allotment it was covered in perennial weeds and we managed to give ourselves tennis elbow (one good arm left between us) from trying to sort it out. We put down weed membrane over half of it and then grew squashes in small gaps between. The squashes loved it and a year on we are taking up the membrane and putting in raised beds. It still has signs of some bindweed and elder in some places - but really not that much. Other weeds seem to have died off well.

So my advice would be to cover bits you aren't currently worked on with membrane, perhaps grow on it. For the fruit patch you could also put cardboard around and mulch it - the cardboard will exclude light from the weeds and eventually break down into the soil. You might need to put more on if weeds start coming through but they will weaken and die!

Boiling water is pretty good.

Vinegar does work to some extent in that it kills off all of the foliage of most weeds, but at this time of the year, anything with a decent sized root will just re-sprout ... ditto for boiling water.  If you use it every few weeks then eventually the weeds will run out of steam and die.  If you can, get a full strength vinegar (5% or higher acidity) ... I get mine very cheaply from the nearest indian supermarket that sells it in 4 litre "screenwash" type bottles.

Hi Ya, I have got the hoe busy and planted spuds in part of the ground. I will keep carefully hoeing and hopefully as the spuds grow their foliage should help. I think I will fork out the grass under the fruit trees and bushes as far as I can in slow time. I will use weed suppressant and plant though it as Gwynleg has suggested and thankyou for that as I was wondering about moving it at the end of the season and reusing. I have a flame gun but under the fruit I am wary. I will go down the vinegar route I think and do more research. I realise it will be slow time but I will try and succeed in my weed problem ground. I am looking forward to the season and will enjoy the time. It's just annoying about my restricted movement. Thanks for all the support and advice from all.