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This fun gardening tip comes from frugal friend Julie, who shared it on The Frugal Girls Facebook page!
If you’ve been wanting a way to kill those pesky weeds without paying big bucks for harsh chemicals… here’s a great frugal alternative: White Vinegar!
That’s it! Simply fill a spray bottle with white vinegar, and spray generously on all parts of the weed ~ leaves and root area.
Don’t dillute ~ use full-strength vinegar, and spray earlier in the day when the weeds are in full sun. {the hotter the day, the better!} The combination of the vinegar, heat, and sunshine will make those stinky weeds shrivel up!
Be careful to spray only on the weeds you want to kill, and keep away from your grass and plants that you want to live! 
I put this to the test, and it really works!!
Here is a weed near my driveway…
Here is the weed near my driveway 1 minute after spraying with vinegar… {buh-bye, weed}
Here is the weed near my driveway 1 day after spraying with vinegar…
Wow ~ what a simple and thrifty weed killer!
And, the best part is… even my boys can spray weeds now {which, at least for now, they’re excited about this new duty!}
Got a thrifty tip??
Leave a comment & share!!
See Also:
- More Gardening Tips + Tricks!
- How to Save $$ on Dishwasher Rinse Aid
- How to Make Homemade 409
- How to Make Homemade Foaming Soap
- How to Make Homemade Laundry Detergent
I wonder if this will work on mushrooms….I’m going to try it out and report back
Hi Jessica ~ I’ve honestly never tried this on mushrooms… let us know how it goes!
~ Heidi
we bought 2 gallons of this and tried it out…didn’t work…what did we do wrong…everyone else we have talked to said it worked so well. ~D
I also tried it and it did not work =Like you what did I do wrong
Heidi – love your helpful tips. Will the vinegar work on crabgrass? Are there any DIY cures for crabgrass? Thanks!
I am going to go try this right now! Got any home grown tips for killing slugs and earwigs? The slugs out here in WA are flippen huge..and they’re everywhere! And they are literally destroying my flower bed… any home grown tips for getting rid of them?
I have heard, but don’t have a problem with slugs, that a water and salt mixture will kill them…but you would have to spray each one individually I would think. Not sure if that is helpful or not…but the salt causes them to dry up.
You can put dry salt directly on them. I used to get them at a house I lived at several years ago. I would go out with a handful of table salt and sprinkle it right on them (ok, more like making a frenzied toss…I hate slugs! ew!) and they would shrivel up before my eyes. Gross, but effective!
Just place jar lids around the border and/or inside the bed(several). Add beer straight. There will be a surprise for you in the morning!
Your fairy God-mother
To get rid of slugs all you need is salt! Just sprinkle a little on their backs and that’s it. You can even sprinkle some where they lay or common areas they are seen too.
Put out a flower pot dish with high sides and
fill with beer. Put it where you see the most
slugs and wait. Slugs love the smell of beer
and will fall in and drowned…maybe they get
drunk on the smell, fall in and drowned,
don’t know. A slug will almost literly melt
if sprinkled with salt.
Plant some plants in your garden or flower bed that do not attract slugs. There are lots of flowers and bulbs that do not attract slugs and bugs/
I throw my used coffee grounds in the flowerbed. I cant see them, it helps the plants, and the best part…..slugs hate the grainy feeling! Win Win!
For destroying slugs, pour some beer in a jar lid and leave it overnight where you see evidence of the slugs.The slugs will consume the beer and it stops them in their tracks. It works for me.
I have tried the salt on slugs but it killed my plants
I hear that soapy water will kill earwigs and pennys are good to keep away slugs. Crushed egg shells in the garden will also help with slugs. I have not done it myself, but heard from others that they work. Good luck
If you have not tried putting beer out, try it. Slugs are bad in SC. Take a can of the cheapest beer you can find and pour it into several old shallow pie pan. The slugs are attracted to the beer like it is a magnet. They crawl into the pan and die. Let me know how you you do with it!
I lived in WA from 1977-1983….Pour salt directly on the slugs, they almost instantly dry up and die…..
My father used to put out metal pie plates with beer in them — slugs dry out in the alcohol. He never had a drink in his life and bought beer for the first time for slugs.
I use a mixture of ammonia, Murphy’s oil soap and water to kill slugs. Kills them in seconds and does no harm to my grass or plants. I just put about a cup of ammonia, couple tablespoons of the soap in a spray bottle and fill the rest of the way to the top with water. Go out in the morning when the slugs are heaviest and spray away. Couple of sprays, slug is dead. After I started doing this my slug population is not so huge. Love it!!
I’ve always heard to use beer, put in a dish & cover loosely with a clay pot, they smell the yeast & want it but drown instead. They like cool damp places!
I know this is a very late post but if you still need help with the slugs…..
Diamatious earth is the very best thing to use for slugs…you sprinkle it under your plants and the slugs got through it and they are gonners. Diamatious earth is simply ground up shells so it is very safe to use.
I remember my Grandmother sprinkling salt on slugs…I was little so I’m not sure if it worked.
Yes, salt still works on slugs.
beer will kill slugs and snails.
Just put a shallow dish near the plants, fill it with beer and they go in an drown themselves. It works!
Salt works too but is yuckier
Yup…the slugs will take their last drink in the beer. It totally works.
I know salt works on slugs, but make sure you don’t put too much, I used to live where we had TONS of snails and I just sprinkled salt on them and they kinda foam up and die and it’s cheap too. I’m excited to try this out on my weeds, thanks so much for the tips!
Have been gardening for over 20 years and have never heard of this! Most anxious to try white vinegar out! Thanks for sharing
One of my favorites; cleaning the bathroom Shower/tub:
1/3 Your favorite laundry soap
1/3 Water
1/3 Vinegar
in spray bottle
I use this every few days in the shower before I get out, does a great job on cleaning and keeping the hard water gone!
I have been trying everything on my bat/shower and can’t get the hard water stains out. I am going to try this! Thanks!
Be careful. Vinegar will kill any plant. So use it sparingly around other desirable plants and where soil fertility is important (especially if you add salt to the mix).
Thank you, i’m going to try it on poison ivy!
Me too.
Tried it and it works great. Thanks for the tip:
I tried the vinegar on several different kind of weeds in my yard, spraying liberally. I waited several days. It did not kill any of them. I wasted the vinegar. Then got out some old Round Up and sprayed the same weeds, and they were dead the next day.
Thank you…I was going to look up something for whatever is eating my hostas…I will try this.
I’ve used stronger vinegar in these instances – the 10-15% that you buy at the garden store, not the grocery. It isn’t inexpensive, but we didn’t use is to save money. We lived on a lake and the chemical run off into the lake wasn’t something that we wanted to contribute to.
You can intensify cheaper white vinegar through evaporation if you’d desire to plan for it. Cover a tray with screening when filled with vinegar and let the liquid evaporate which concentrates the strength, but be careful about marking the container clearly if you store it.
If you have slugs around your hostis plants you put sand around them and they wont bother them
u just reminded me of a little magic trick i used to show the kids, pour a paperplate with whole milk, add two drops of food coloring to the middle, each a different color, then rightaway, add a drop of dishwashing liquid to the middle also, are you waiting? im not going to spoil it for u just know its awesome to watch and wont hurt anyone
Thanks. I’ve never done that. Sounds like fun for the grandkids.
I have killed weeds with Coca Cola, add a few drops of dishwashin liquid to the cola so it will adhere the pland and spray it liberally
If you’re a gardener and you plant crops like corn, green beans, squash..etc..will this vinegar weed killer be safe for the crops?
If you have a small garden this will work. Pour regular black pepper around the plant, not too close , and wa-la.
Also, for roses, I save banana peelings-outside. When they are stiff I put them in my blender (works better that food processor) and grind them until they look like pepper. Spread them around the roses and cover lightly with soil. Roses LOVE banana peelings.
Earwig Trap: put rolled newspaper in your garden, earwigs love tight, dark spaces, then pick up the newspaper and toss it in a deep bucket of water to drown the earwigs.
What about killing weeds in my lawn? We have a healthy patch of dandelions–taking orders for Mother’s Day! LOL. With two little girls and a dog, I am concerned about treating with harmful chemicals. Wouldn’t the vinegar kill the grass, too?
Yes, vinegar will kill the grass. Just spray the vinegar in a straight stream (not spray mode) into the center of the dandelion. You have to do it on a sunny day too. It is the combination sun and vinegar that kills the dandelions. I have small children too and the vinegar works great.
I appreciate all the comments here! Do you have any advice on how to get rid of ants?
Hi Ann ~ here are 25 DIY ways to get rid of ants… hope this helps!
http://thefrugalgirls.com/2011/09/diy-get-rid-of-ants.html
~ Heidi