Vinegar, Epsom salts, Dawn weed killer mix superior ‘organic’ alternatives to synthetic herbicides? ‘Nonsense,’ gardening expert says

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Image: Grandmother Musings

You know, the most wonderful thing about social media and the internet is that everything you read there is true! Therefore, if someone you don’t know posts a question and someone else you don’t know answers it, you can rest assured that the answer will be correct. Right????

This naïve assumption is the basis for one of the most popular gardening myths making the digital rounds today. It’s a “safe, natural weed-killer” made from mixing vinegar, Epsom salts, and Dawn liquid detergent.

[Editor’s note: Author Steve Bender is a home gardening writer for Southern Living.]

See, the big advantage that “chemical” weed-killers like Roundup, Brush Killer, and Weed-B-Gon have is that when you spray them on green leaves and stems, the weed absorbs the chemical and carries it down to the roots. Thus, you truly kill it, roots and all …. Natural weed-killers …. kill the top growth, but if the weed is perennial or has an extensive root system (like dandelion, poison ivy, or brambles), they grow right back from the roots.

But, you say, I don’t like using chemical weed-killers. They’re dangerous and bad for the environment. Surely, that’s not the case with the vinegar-Epsom salts-Liquid Dawn concoction!

Read full, original article: Can We Just Quit with the Vinegar-Epsom Salts Weed-Killer Nonsense?

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