cheapest form of weed killer

Jimmy_M

Quick one - Ive an area of about 3m by 6m that im going to roll turf on.
I killed off the weeds with round up and dug it up and turned the soil a bit with the intention of laying the lawn last year but never got round to it. So the weeds are back.
Any way im looking for the cheapest form of weed killer. I used roundup in the past but its expensive enough - is there a couple of chemicals i can mix with water to make basically the same stuff or equivalant on the cheap.
I understand the dangers of mixing chemicals etc - just wondering is there something that people here use that maybe available of a (cheap) shelf.

biko

White vinegar will kill them after a couple days. Buy 5L for 6/7 euro and use an old spray bottle. Or simply pour slowly and evenly.

Jimmy_M

Cheers - so dont dilute. Where would i buy 5l of it?
Edit: stupid question - I assume I could at least get litre bottles in dunnes/tesco for around the 1.50 mark

gerarda

I use table salt - pour it as near as you can get it to the centre of the weed,pouring it on the leaves will have no effect, after a few days you will see them drying up. Salt is also good for clearing moss from cobblelock driveways too.

biko

Jimmy_M wrote: »

Cheers - so dont dilute. Where would i buy 5l of it?
Edit: stupid question - I assume I could at least get litre bottles in dunnes/tesco for around the 1.50 mark

I get 5L containers in Asian shops.
Yeah, don't dilute (you could if you like but it's faster undiluted).


As gerarda said, salt is good too.

Both will kill the weed but is gentle on everything else, including pets and kids.

lk67

....providing the Round Up worked and there are only soft annual weeds left. If there are perennial grasses growing again then you will need something stronger.

Jimmy_M

Good stuff.
It comes in pint bottles in tesco. They cost 1.30 each.
Aldi hadnt got any but there pint bottles of malted vinegar were only 39c!! Not sure whether its cheaper to make malted vinegar (I forgot to compare the price in tesco)

Anyway - I got 4 bottles put them into a 5l sprayer bottle. Still half of it left so ill give it another coat tomorrow maybe.

biko

I suppose malted will work too. I've only ever used white vinegar.

Jimmy_M

lk67 wrote: »

....providing the Round Up worked and there are only soft annual weeds left. If there are perennial grasses growing again then you will need something stronger.

Ok cheers - It did seem to work alright - as i say, it was about this time last year.
I left it work for a few days and scraped away the dead stuff and a layer of top soil.
I didnt get round to finishing the job - it stayed bare at least for a couple of months i think. (cant be sure though as i wasnt paying that much attention)

Ill see how this goes over the next few days.

lk67

Jimmy_M wrote: »

Ok cheers - It did seem to work alright - as i say, it was about this time last year.
I left it work for a few days and scraped away the dead stuff and a layer of top soil.
I didnt get round to finishing the job - it stayed bare at least for a couple of months i think. (cant be sure though as i wasnt paying that much attention)

Ill see how this goes over the next few days.

Grand. Most broadleaf weeds can be dealt with easily enough in the lawn later. Perennial unwanted grasses can't.

Jimmy_M

Maybe ill bang a picture of the various weeds up this evening to be sure. No point in wasting time - was hoping to lay the lawn this weekend but it'll prob have to wait til the one after at this stage.

biko

If it's dry and very sunny the weeds should die in a day with vinegar.
Any rain will dilute the vinegar though.

Polo_Mint

I use White Vinegar too and add a dash of Washing up liquid to it. it helps it stick to the leaves for longer