Thursday 6 August 2015

Natural alternatives to weed killers.

Despite living in the desert quite a lot of plants and trees grow and thrive quite well. Especially the weeds, they seem to grow without the need for water.



They seem to have quite a strong root structure to survive these temperatures.

I can't buy weedkiller in Dubai, I also can't find out why it is banned, despite extensive google searching.

So I've been looking into natural alternatives for killing the weeds, fertilising plants and pest control.

I measured 3 tablespoons of white vinegar with 1 litre of water and some dishwasher liquid to help the vinegar solution bind to the weed.

One week later the weeds looked like this.


I'm now spraying the weeds daily with the vinegar solution and hoping that I can eradicate the weeds from the path. I'm going to add a tea spoon of salt to the mixture also, but will be very careful when spraying it, so it doesn't contanimate the grass and other plants in the garden.

Did you know the Greek's and the Roman's used salt to poison the ground as salt renders the soil sterile, ensuring their enemies were incapable of feeding themselves and their families?





20 comments:

  1. Now I'm wondering why they've banned weed killer too!
    Great solution for tackling the stubborn weeds, and interesting fact about the Romans and salt, they were a clever bunch.

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    1. i just can't find out why, there was a case this year where someone got hold of illegal weed killer, used it on their balcony and the fumes killed a small child in one of the apartments

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  2. weeds are like roaches. they will survive anywhere. nasty things

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    1. they're not even pretty weeds with flowers, just stringy grass type things that are now strangling some of the plants

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  3. I think I'll be trying out your recipe along our boundary wall, no matter what I do those weeds just keep on coming. I had no idea the Greeks & Romans did that with salt, nasty but impressive at the same time!

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    1. ive also been told that bicarb of soda works well, which i'll give a try next time

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  4. Ah now I am sure Rosie who joins in with HDYGG has a recipe for a natural weedkiller - hang on I'll hunt it out and tweet it to you if I'm right!
    Do let us know if you find out why it's banned!
    Thanks you for joining in again x

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    1. Rosie said she is at a loss, will let you know if i find out why weedkiller is banned

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  5. I'm too worried to use salt. I'm not good at keeping on top of the weeds here, but I've also heard boiling water is an option and spraying them with oil will suffocate them. The good thing about using cooking oil is it's non-toxic and a bit of dishsoap will help break it down once it's done it's job. Good luck with tackling those weeds!

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    1. i'll give that a go, the water out the cold tap is currently 42c so not far off

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  6. Wonder why it is banned but good to see your mix is working. I never use the stuff anyway, always prefer more natural methods like you've used or on my knees with a trowel.

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    1. we do have a gardener and he just strims the weeds every now and then making it difficult for me to try and pull out

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  7. Bicarb also works really well! You just put it on...leave for a bit and then water. Weeds gone for months after.

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    1. i'll give that a go Louisa next time, thank you

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  8. I have used home-made herbicides before but can't find the recipe - IIRC it was a mix of salt, washing up liquid, vinegar and water which worked best on recently cut weeds.

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    1. I'm now using bicarb of soda,we also noticed that the air con unit was leaking and therefore watering this particular group of weeds

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  9. White vinegar seems to do everything! Hope the weeds give up soon! :) #hdygg

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    1. thanks, we've fixed the air con unit as it was leaking where the weeds are and giving them life

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