organic weed killer

[T Britt]

What is the exact formula for the vinegar, orange oil weed killer.

[khwoz]

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=94

Ck the above and the rest of the site. Welcome - join, it's free.

[Kathe Kitchens]

If you are using 20% vinegar, mix it with water at 60% vinegar to 40% water, then 2 oz. orange oil or 1 oz. orange TKO and a teaspoon of liquid soap. Shake it up and spray full strength in a strong enough mist to cover the greenery of the weeds you want to kill. Do it when the sun will shine directly on the plants for at least 4 hours and they'll be gone by day's end. Plants in the shade will take a little longer but die too.

If you use 10% pickling vinegar, use it full strength. If you spray in the morning, you'll have dead weeds by evening. Don't get it on any plants you want to keep. It literally burns them, chemically, to death.

Hope that helps! :D
Kathe

[Mr. Clean]

Funny you should ask...This was Friday's topic on HG's Channel 8 appearance.

An interesting point made was that using vinegar alone, though effective, is not as lasting as when combined with soap and orange oil.

As Kathe mentioned, sun helps, but is not necessary. As long as there is no immediate rain, the solution has worked for me even when overcast.

[TH]

Is Simple Green the same as Orange Oil? I read the post several times and I couldn't tell if Simple Green was the soap or Orange Oil? Thanks.

[dcluck]

TH wrote: Is Simple Green the same as Orange Oil? I read the post several times and I couldn't tell if Simple Green was the soap or Orange Oil? Thanks.

Simple Green is a range of non-toxic cleaning products and is not the same as orange oil. Orange oil, also called citrus oil or d'Limonene, is a concentrated product derived from distilled orange peels that works as a multipurpose cleaner, insect control agent and more. It can be found at virtually any organic gardening outlet under various product names. One widely available brand you'll see is Orange TKO. Typically the stuff is somewhat expensive, but it's highly concentrated and goes a very long way.

Here's another link to some info on some of its uses.

GreenSense Citrus Oil

~Dave

[Mr. Clean]

[quote="dcluck"] TH wrote: One widely available brand you'll see is Orange TKO. Typically the stuff is somewhat expensive, but it's highly concentrated and goes a very long way.


The initial "sticker shock" of Orange TKO quickly goes away as you see how truly economical it is to use. Buy either the 64 oz. or gallon sizes as there is no end to the ways you can use this product, not only in the garden, but in the home as well. Two thumbs up for one of the best products I have found!

[Asher]

What do ya'll think of vinegar and clove oil? Burnout works well for us. It's got clove, vinegar, and lemon.

We've found that it works better than straight clove oil, cheaper too. Never considered vinegar and orange oil together, even though we love to use them both for cleaning!

[hamelcd]

This is pretty badly off-topic, but since you all were talking about orange oil, I have another great use for it. I put it in a 1-gallon sprayer (just shy of one cup, the rest I fill with water) and spray it over the carpet as a pre-treatment for stains, dirt, etc. I let it sit for a few minutes, and then, I run the carpet cleaner with pure water -- no detergent. It works incredibly well. I would go so far as to say it works better than with the detergents and leaves no detergent residue.

I think it's cheaper in the long run and seems in pretty good keeping with the spirit of organics.