Natural Non-Toxic Way of Dealing With Weeds

Gardening season is here. And that means the weeds are also flourishing in full force. Luckily, you don't need to eliminate the weeds with aggressive chemicals. There is a better, natural and non-poisonous way to deal with weeds:

The common household product baking soda.

The Baking Soda as Natural, Non-toxic Weed Killer

• Weeds often reproduce in different ways: rhizomes, cuttings, runners

• They produce many seeds, usually tiny seeds, that have burrs, float, or disperse easily

• If you pull some weeds out, they might break off and re-sprout

• Weeds are fast-growing and can usually live in many environments, soils, and conditions

Plants must take up water to live, and baking soda prevents them from doing this. Salt is the main ingredient in the common household product baking soda that dehydrates the plants.

With baking soda, you can deal with small types of weeds at isolated locations like in between pavers, along the edge of the driveway, or in sidewalk cracks. You need to be careful though when applying baking soda on targeted weeds, as it is a non-selective herbicide, and will also kill small plants and grass. Consequently, it isn't a good idea to use baking soda on lawns, because it would also kill the grass.

Baking soda is easy-to-us whether you choose to apply straight out of the box or spray in a water solution. Make sure though to pick a sunny day to apply the baking soda, as rain would wash it off before it had a chance to dehydrates the weeds.

When mixing your solution, use one teaspoon of baking soda per cup of water (or 10 tablespoons of baking soda to a gallon of water). If you choose to apply baking soda right out of the box directly onto the weeds, wet the foliage first so that the baking soda sticks to the leaves rather than blowing away. Then, pour approximately 1 teaspoon for each weed.

Other Natural Ways of Killing Weeds

In addition to using baking soda, there are many other ways to kill weeds naturally.

• Vinegar: Vinegar is another natural herbicide. For best results, use vinegar that is higher in acetic acid.

• Boiling water: This is the cheapest way to kill weeds naturally. However, as with vinegar, remember that it is non-selective.

• Salt: As an alternative to baking soda, you can use salt to kill weeds.

and

• Smothering: You can also smother weeds with black plastic, tarps, etc. This option is ideal for a landscape area where a vigorous weed has taken over, forming a monoculture.

We wish you a great gardening season free of weeds!