Vinegar
By Bruce Lee Deuley - 1/15/03

There are many uses of Vinegar in and around the garden. Ironically, it can be used to kill unwanted weeds and then, when properly mixed, becomes a great soil amendment increasing the microbial activity and adding vigor to the soil.

It is an ideal additive for plants who like their soil a little on the acid side, but be careful, you can do too much of a good thing.

Vinegar is available in much strength. Most common vinegar's have an acidity of about 5%. The next step up is pickling vinegar with acetic acid in it running in the 10% range and finally horticultural vinegar, which can be purchased at many garden centers and nurseries, has 20% acidity. Use gloves and be careful with the 20% vinegar it can and will bur your skin.

All of these strengths of vinegar are useful in and around the lawn and garden.

To grow beautiful Azaleas, Camellias, Rhododendrons, Gardenias and other acid loving plants occasionally water your plants with a mixture of 2 Tablespoons of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar to a gallon of water. The plants love it and it helps to neutralize the repeated use of the alkaline water we all have here in the hill country.

Use straight 10 or 20% Vinegar, with a little liquid dish soap in it, on the cracks between your patio stones sidewalks and driveways to kill unwanted weeds.

10% pickling vinegar can be used to kill most grasses and many of the weeds we fight in our lawns and gardens but some really tough guys like Johnson Grass, Russian Thistle and Smilax vines require the use of 20% horticultural Vinegar if you really want to eliminate them. Even then it may take a few applications to gain control. For the really tough guys it is best to use the vinegar straight with a shot of liquid dish soap and wait for a good hot sunny day. You will see results in a few hours.

If you have an area you want to clear of all plants and are not going to replant it. Such as a patio or sidewalk, you can pour straight 20% vinegar over the area and eliminate all of the plant life. This procedure brings the soil pH down to around 3 and will not allow much of anything to grow in that area for several years.

Finally, to keep fresh cut flowers lasting longer add 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar and 3 tablespoons of sugar to a quart of warm water. Allow 3 or 4 inches of the plant stems to be submerged. This will lengthen the useful life of most cut flowers.

Enjoy your vinegar and if you have other suggestions for using it in and around the garden drop me a line @ bdeuley@yahoo.com

Next week: Bring your soil back to life.