Horticultural Vinegar on Quackgrass

13 years ago

Has anyone tried or had success with Organic Vinegar ( acetic acid 30%) on Quackgrass ? I was told 2 or 3 applications would do the job. The guy who told me said that it works bc the vinegar is systemic meaning it should go down to the roots where the quackgrass spreads & multiplies. All the Internet research I've done says that it only kills the top growth which really doesn't help much since the rhizomes is what I need to die !

Featured Answer

ericwi

13 years ago

I'm not sure about quackgrass, but I have used regular 5% white vinegar on dandelions with success. The only problem is that the vinegar leaves a dead spot in the lawn, that takes two months or so to green up and disappear.

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Comments (8)

Kimmsr
13 years ago
Will not and does not work on Quack Grass. Vinegar only kills the top growth of any plant it contacts, although some inadvertantly spilled on some soil did kill everything growing there for one season.
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compulsivegrower
Original Author
13 years ago
Kimmsr
"although some inadvertantly spilled on some soil did kill everything growing there for one season."
What do you mean ? I will be putting it on the Quackgrass that's growing in soil so are you saying it could kill it for one season ?

Also I was thinking if it does kill the top growth, after a few applications won't the rhizomes/root system below the soil eventually tire and run out of energy & die with no top growth ?
User
13 years ago
It is not systemic and will not kill the roots. If you repeatedly kill the top the roots will eventually die from starvation.

The affect on the soil would be from the low pH from the spill.

==========
I'm testing the Pinterest "oooh vinegar kills my weeds" formula on established annual blue grass and it's not impressing me at all. There was fast top browning and now it's sending up healthy green shoots from the base.

The stuff I hit with glyphosate that weekend is brown and dead. I can be patient :)

If you have seedling weeds that can't survive having their tops burned out, vinegar would work, but more established plants can survive multiple applications.
Kimmsr
13 years ago
The Acetic Acid refered to above was something around or over 30 percent and a fair amount was spilled and that prevented any growth of any kind in that soil, nothing would grow.
I have had good results with just newspaper (or cardboard) without poisoning the soil for a year, but long term requires digging out the rhizomes.
elisa_z5
13 years ago
I have tried vinegar on QG with poor results (just made it smell like vinegar)
I think of digging the rhizomes as meditation.
By the time I have all the Quack Grass out of my garden, I'll be enlightened. :)
dipsandtets
13 years ago
The OP asks specifically about 30% acetic acid on quackgrass and the answer is yes, it does work. I've used horticultural vinegar @ 20% and it killed quackgrass, using an eye/ear dropper applying to the base instead of spraying it.
Kimmsr
13 years ago
Vinegar will kill the top growth of Quack Grass but not the plants roots so after a short time the Quack Grass will grow back. Vinegar kills the top growth of many plants and if applied often enough to that top growth will cause the roots, a nutrient bank, to starve and stop sending up new growth.