KiNoRonin
November 22nd, 2007, 10:50 PM
Konnichi Wa to All:
This is my Experiment on using Vinegar as a General Herbicide that I did last June at a place called Churchill Estates in the Walnut Grove area of Langley.
I am writing this up for the Boss of my Landscaping Company as a Proposal for him using Vinegar as an Environmentally Friendly Alternative to Glyphosate Roundup.
Here is the Grove of Cidar Trees that I did the Experiment on as they appeared before the Experiment:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/ThreeTrees2.jpg
After finding an Article on the Internet that showed how Vinegar could be used as an Evironmentally Friendly General Herbicide in April of 2007, I decided to do an Experiment using a solution of 50% Vinegar & 50% Water to see how it would control some Weeds in 3 Treewells in one of the sites on which I did Landscaping on.
So starting on May 31st, I started applying my Vinegar Solution to the Treewells:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/ThreeTrees1.jpg
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/TwoTrees.jpg
Early in the morning on May 31st , I arrived with a 500ml Spray Bottle and sprayed a 1/3 of the Bottle around the Treewells of each Test Tree. By the late afternoon, one particular Weed was curling up and appeared to be Dying. This was in Treewell #2:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/StubbornWeed.jpg
A week later on June 7th, I returned and found that all Moss in all Three Treewells had All Died. All Grass and Clover were Yellowing Out. The Weed in Treewell #2 that had been affected first was still withered but still Alive.
After taking down my Notes, I applied a 2nd Dose of Venegar Solution to each of the Three Treewells.
On June 14th, I returned and took note that all Grass Blades were still Yellowing Out and the Clover was then Dead. There is some New Little Mosslings growing back. I noted that there was no New Germinations of any other New Weeds. All the Weeds that had been there to start with had appeared to either Stopped Growing or were Stunted in their Growth.
After taking my notes, I then applied the 3rd Dose of Vinager Solution.
On June 21st, I found that some of the Mosslings had Grown Back. No other Plantlife had Germinated during the past week.
All Weeds and Plantlife were still Yellowed and had not changed much since the 3rd Vinegar Application.
I did a Fine Weeding by Handpicking. I did note that all Plant Roots were all Weakened and as those Weeds were easy to pull out from the Ground. I also removed all Moss Remnants, both Alive and Dead.
On June 28th, I did started doing my Monitoring of the situation and found that Tree #1 had no Regrowth:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/Tree1.jpg
Three #2 had a few new Mosslings Restarted and the Broadleaved Weed that had originally Withered had grown back One Leaf. I noted that Three Other Weeds had Grown into the Treewell:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/Tree2.jpg
Tree #3had some Mosslings grown back. Three Clovers and Four Grass Blades had popped up and had started Growing Back:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/Tree3.jpg
On July 4th, I returned to take notes had found that 5 Mosslings had Regrown in Treewell #1. It also had Three More Grasses and One Weed that had Regrown.
Treewell #2 had the Stubborn Weed that had originally Withered Quickly and I had pulled out on my Fine Weeding on June 21st Grown Back. I pulled it out again. Even though it Withered Quickly, it appears to be able to Recover Quickly from the Vinegar Application:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/StubbornWeed.jpg
Fourteen Mosslings had Resprouted in Treewell #2. Also One Clover and Two Weeds had Restarted. No Grass Regrowth was Noted.
Treewell #3 had Six Grasses , One Clover, Two Weeds and Fourteen Mosslings Restarted.
On July 13th, Treewell #1 had Two More Weeds Regrown, but all Regrown Mosslings seemed to have Disappeared.
Treewell #2 had Clover and One Weed Triple in Size in the past week. All other Weeds remained Small. Little Growth in Moss Observed.
Treewell #3 had Grass and Weeds Triple in Size. The Clover that had been there before seemed to have Disappeared.
On July 26th, Treewell #1 had No Changes.
Treewell #2 had Three More Weeds come up. One Weed was noted to have Regrown in Very Largely.
Treewell #3 had Six more Grasses started on its West Side. There is a Patch of Geranium started on Western Side of the Treewell. Some Pepper Weed had was seen coming up on the Treewell Southside. A rather Big Patch of Moss was noted as Growing in on the Treewell's Westside. For some reason, Treewell #3 has the Most Prolific Weed Growback.
This was the end of my Experiment and I had taken in all the Information that I needed to make my Observations, and Recommendations in regards to using Vinegar as a General Herbicide.
My Observations went that Vinegar appleid to Treewells was found to have Excellent Knockdown Affect on All Moss. This is an affect that would prooved Very Usefull for solving the Chronic Problem of having Unsightly Moss Overgrown in a lot of Treewells, which grow in between the Roots of the Trees in such a way that makes it difficult to remove with a Weederbar.
Vinegar does not stop Moss from Regrowing back in, although I did take not of the fact that such Regrowth is fairly Stunted.
Vinegar does not Knockdown other Weeds as thuroughly as Moss, but I did note that it does Weaken Weeds in such a way making it easier to pull them up. I also noted that Old Plants that had their Roots Weakened by Vinegar did not tend to Regrow from its Old Roots, except for that one Weed that did Stubbornly Regrow Back in Treewell #2.
One of the Good Things about Vinegar being used is that although it has General Herbicidal Affects similar to Roundup Glyphosate, it does not have the problematic drawbacks that Roundup has. It does not Harm Surrounding Trees, nor does its Drift affect any surrounding Lawns or Desireable Plants.
Since Vinegar does not have the any of the Undesireable Side Affects that Roundup does, it is actually Safer to use and apply in Breezes greater than 8Kh or in Temperatures over 30 Degrees Celsius.
My Recommendations:
Get a New Back Pack Tank Sprayer and Spray Paint a Big Gian "V" onto it. Only use if for Vinegar Solution applications!
In about July to August, when Temperatures are greater than 30 degrees, make Two Applications of Vinegar around Treewells that have Unsightly Moss Problems one week apart. That should take care of all Moss.
Also, during July and August, use Vinegar Solution instead of Roundup to treat Concret Curb and Roadway Cracks as it is Safer to use. I did note during the past Landscaping Season that there were occasions that Roundup was Applied during days when Temperatures were Too Hot and in some Complexes, some Bushes and Shrubs that had been previously been Healthy had turned Brown and Died by mid to late September. I think that in order to prevent such things from happening again, that Vinegar should be used instead of Roundup during the Hot July and August months.
Also, I think that Vinegar could be used in Beds underneath Cidar Hedges as I have noted that Moss also tends to grow around the bases of Cidar Hedges making them Unsightly in a similar fashion as it does in Treewells.
The End.
This is my Experiment on using Vinegar as a General Herbicide that I did last June at a place called Churchill Estates in the Walnut Grove area of Langley.
I am writing this up for the Boss of my Landscaping Company as a Proposal for him using Vinegar as an Environmentally Friendly Alternative to Glyphosate Roundup.
Here is the Grove of Cidar Trees that I did the Experiment on as they appeared before the Experiment:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/ThreeTrees2.jpg
After finding an Article on the Internet that showed how Vinegar could be used as an Evironmentally Friendly General Herbicide in April of 2007, I decided to do an Experiment using a solution of 50% Vinegar & 50% Water to see how it would control some Weeds in 3 Treewells in one of the sites on which I did Landscaping on.
So starting on May 31st, I started applying my Vinegar Solution to the Treewells:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/ThreeTrees1.jpg
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/TwoTrees.jpg
Early in the morning on May 31st , I arrived with a 500ml Spray Bottle and sprayed a 1/3 of the Bottle around the Treewells of each Test Tree. By the late afternoon, one particular Weed was curling up and appeared to be Dying. This was in Treewell #2:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/StubbornWeed.jpg
A week later on June 7th, I returned and found that all Moss in all Three Treewells had All Died. All Grass and Clover were Yellowing Out. The Weed in Treewell #2 that had been affected first was still withered but still Alive.
After taking down my Notes, I applied a 2nd Dose of Venegar Solution to each of the Three Treewells.
On June 14th, I returned and took note that all Grass Blades were still Yellowing Out and the Clover was then Dead. There is some New Little Mosslings growing back. I noted that there was no New Germinations of any other New Weeds. All the Weeds that had been there to start with had appeared to either Stopped Growing or were Stunted in their Growth.
After taking my notes, I then applied the 3rd Dose of Vinager Solution.
On June 21st, I found that some of the Mosslings had Grown Back. No other Plantlife had Germinated during the past week.
All Weeds and Plantlife were still Yellowed and had not changed much since the 3rd Vinegar Application.
I did a Fine Weeding by Handpicking. I did note that all Plant Roots were all Weakened and as those Weeds were easy to pull out from the Ground. I also removed all Moss Remnants, both Alive and Dead.
On June 28th, I did started doing my Monitoring of the situation and found that Tree #1 had no Regrowth:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/Tree1.jpg
Three #2 had a few new Mosslings Restarted and the Broadleaved Weed that had originally Withered had grown back One Leaf. I noted that Three Other Weeds had Grown into the Treewell:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/Tree2.jpg
Tree #3had some Mosslings grown back. Three Clovers and Four Grass Blades had popped up and had started Growing Back:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/Tree3.jpg
On July 4th, I returned to take notes had found that 5 Mosslings had Regrown in Treewell #1. It also had Three More Grasses and One Weed that had Regrown.
Treewell #2 had the Stubborn Weed that had originally Withered Quickly and I had pulled out on my Fine Weeding on June 21st Grown Back. I pulled it out again. Even though it Withered Quickly, it appears to be able to Recover Quickly from the Vinegar Application:
http://www.cauldronliving.com/images/uploads/StubbornWeed.jpg
Fourteen Mosslings had Resprouted in Treewell #2. Also One Clover and Two Weeds had Restarted. No Grass Regrowth was Noted.
Treewell #3 had Six Grasses , One Clover, Two Weeds and Fourteen Mosslings Restarted.
On July 13th, Treewell #1 had Two More Weeds Regrown, but all Regrown Mosslings seemed to have Disappeared.
Treewell #2 had Clover and One Weed Triple in Size in the past week. All other Weeds remained Small. Little Growth in Moss Observed.
Treewell #3 had Grass and Weeds Triple in Size. The Clover that had been there before seemed to have Disappeared.
On July 26th, Treewell #1 had No Changes.
Treewell #2 had Three More Weeds come up. One Weed was noted to have Regrown in Very Largely.
Treewell #3 had Six more Grasses started on its West Side. There is a Patch of Geranium started on Western Side of the Treewell. Some Pepper Weed had was seen coming up on the Treewell Southside. A rather Big Patch of Moss was noted as Growing in on the Treewell's Westside. For some reason, Treewell #3 has the Most Prolific Weed Growback.
This was the end of my Experiment and I had taken in all the Information that I needed to make my Observations, and Recommendations in regards to using Vinegar as a General Herbicide.
My Observations went that Vinegar appleid to Treewells was found to have Excellent Knockdown Affect on All Moss. This is an affect that would prooved Very Usefull for solving the Chronic Problem of having Unsightly Moss Overgrown in a lot of Treewells, which grow in between the Roots of the Trees in such a way that makes it difficult to remove with a Weederbar.
Vinegar does not stop Moss from Regrowing back in, although I did take not of the fact that such Regrowth is fairly Stunted.
Vinegar does not Knockdown other Weeds as thuroughly as Moss, but I did note that it does Weaken Weeds in such a way making it easier to pull them up. I also noted that Old Plants that had their Roots Weakened by Vinegar did not tend to Regrow from its Old Roots, except for that one Weed that did Stubbornly Regrow Back in Treewell #2.
One of the Good Things about Vinegar being used is that although it has General Herbicidal Affects similar to Roundup Glyphosate, it does not have the problematic drawbacks that Roundup has. It does not Harm Surrounding Trees, nor does its Drift affect any surrounding Lawns or Desireable Plants.
Since Vinegar does not have the any of the Undesireable Side Affects that Roundup does, it is actually Safer to use and apply in Breezes greater than 8Kh or in Temperatures over 30 Degrees Celsius.
My Recommendations:
Get a New Back Pack Tank Sprayer and Spray Paint a Big Gian "V" onto it. Only use if for Vinegar Solution applications!
In about July to August, when Temperatures are greater than 30 degrees, make Two Applications of Vinegar around Treewells that have Unsightly Moss Problems one week apart. That should take care of all Moss.
Also, during July and August, use Vinegar Solution instead of Roundup to treat Concret Curb and Roadway Cracks as it is Safer to use. I did note during the past Landscaping Season that there were occasions that Roundup was Applied during days when Temperatures were Too Hot and in some Complexes, some Bushes and Shrubs that had been previously been Healthy had turned Brown and Died by mid to late September. I think that in order to prevent such things from happening again, that Vinegar should be used instead of Roundup during the Hot July and August months.
Also, I think that Vinegar could be used in Beds underneath Cidar Hedges as I have noted that Moss also tends to grow around the bases of Cidar Hedges making them Unsightly in a similar fashion as it does in Treewells.
The End.