We purchased some vinegar to try using it instead of other stuff to kill unwanted grasses. (Did not work so well).

Anyway, my question relates to the inconsistency about vinegar.

I have heard that it kills plants, and that it fertilizes plants. What gives here??? How can it do both??

I know it can be confusing, but here's the simple version:

Natural cider vinegar has lots of good trace minerals & nutrients. A small amount added to foliar spray rounds out the feeding. Hence its inclusion in Garrett Juice.

White vinegar is less nutritious but still enhances the soil when it is sprayed because it helps to adjust the nutrient balance on a chemical level; however, this is not regularly recommended because of the potential for burning. Vinegar comes in various levels of strength, usually 5% for regular household use, 10% for pickling and 20% for more industrial and serious weed control use.

Do a little general searching on the net and the differences will become more clear to you. In the meantime, I hope this clears up the confusion.

Now, you wanna talk about corn meal vs. corn gluten meal?
(That's a joke...for those new to the forum, it's a constant source of confusion). Hope that explains it, clherv. I'm not making fun of you, just having a little fun here. Let's never take ourselves too seriously.
Kathe

I am still attempting to find a real source of 10% distilled vinegar on the I-35/US-75 corridor from Round Rock north to Sherman. No luck,
any one have it?

seems like I found some at an H.E.B. grocery store

Sorry to be so prickly, but where/when??? I have called 10 HEBs and they categorically deny ever carrying 10% vinegar. This is becoming an "Urban Myth: On a dark night, I found 10% vinegar"

You can get some from the Organic garden spot on the east side of Central Expressway on 18th Street in Plano. It's just about two blocks off 75 and behind the house on the south side of 18th Street. They also carry other good stuff like Corn Gluten meal, horticultural cornmeal, dried molasses etc.

You can get both 10% and 20% at North Haven Gardens off of US75 in Dallas. Best day go is Thursday because that is when they have just restocked their shelves. Here is the information for North Haven Gardens.

North Haven Gardens
7700 Northaven Rd.
Dallas, TX 75230
(214) 363-5316

Does anyone know where I can find Surround WP or Kaolin Clay in or around Granbury/Stephenville, Texas?
sheddy

I have purchased pickling vinegar at HEB. It is their own brand but is only 9% but should work fine.
Richard Spitzer

I have purchased 10% vinegar at local garden shops.

Vinegar is not something you want to really use for your plants under normal conditions. Apple cider does contain trace nutrients and is a good addition to foliar sprays (diluted and in combination with other stuff like compost tea). White vinegar however is useless at best,and more often,harmful.
HOWEVER it does have some uses. For example,you can use it as a quick fix to amend small amounts of alkaline soil. Additionally,you can dissolve limestone or wood ash in vinegar and use the (diluted) filtered liquid as a very quick-acting calcium fertilizer for potted plants if they are suffering from a deficiency. Bottomline is that you gotta be very careful using vinegar if your soil is acidic.

And I believe vinegar has uses in pest control but I have little knowledge about it,but there seem to be some discussions on that on the main board.

My understanding was that the vinegar is used in a small amount in Garrett Juice simply to balance the pH for storage.

When diluted, the best use is for pH adjustment. When used full strength, it is a non specific herbicide.

Straight undiluted vinegars are definitely excellent natural herbicides.

A few tblsp of natural vinegars per gallon of water or compost teas, makes it an acidic fertilizer, adding about 20-30 nutrients to the tea.

Also I read from Dr. Alan Arden's articles once last year, that sugary acidic compost teas, used as a foliar or soil drench, tend to make phosphorus more available to plants via microbes, thus increasing fruiting and flowering.

High alkaline sugary compost teas (using ammonia maybe in the teas) tends to be best for greening or increase foliage growth in plants, also via beneficial microbes.