key points
- Boiling water is an effective way to kill weeds without using chemicals.
- This is best used for annual weeds, in cooler season, and far from plants you do not want to kill.
- Other effective methods include using hand, pulling and vinegar.
This is a pleasure to see your plants, but when you notice it can quickly panic Mourning in the gardenWeeds are generally unwanted plants that find their way in your soil and some can aggressive or damage your well -kept plants or lawns. There is no key to getting rid of these unwanted invaders Rigid chemical herbicide,
It can be as simple as boiling water, but how does it work? We asked horticulture experts how this simple trick can be a good DIY weed killer – and how to use it safely with your plants.
Meet experts
- Anna hackman A farmer and managing member on naked vegetation.
- Alex watson There is a gardener and the founder of the garden people.
How to use hot water to kill weeds
It is very simple to use boiling water to eliminate weeds.
- Fill a tea kettle (with a non-metal handle) with some water.
- Place it on the stove and heat it to a boil, then bring it out of your garden.
- Pour it on the leaves and soak it in the roots of unwanted weeds.
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Why boiling water works to kill weeds
The plant will be put into thermal shock with boiling water. Rapid temperature changes damage weed cells and it dries the plant quickly.
“This is why you will see The Willing and then the plant dying,” says Alex Watson, the founder of a gardener and the garden garden. “It works if you are trying to get away from using harsh chemicals.”
Watson suggested using this method during a quiet season to increase the effect of temperature change on weeds.
Both experts recommend that this method be used mostly Weeds in pescy areasLike pavement, driveway and path.
“We find that it is quite effective on hard surfaces and tight cracks, as the roots are usually quite shallow,” Watson says.
For pesky weeds, experts recommend that the results may need to be used several times before seeing the result.
Why boiling water cannot work on some weeds
Hot temperatures may be sufficient to kill certain types of weeds, especially Annual plant With the roots that are near the top of the soil and not deep in the ground.
Annual weeds like Chikweed, complete their entire growth cycle in the same growing season, but perennials, such as dandelions, may grow more than two years. Because of this, perennial roots are deep, such as long tapors of a dandelion.
“If someone wants to use boiling water, they simply have to be careful and make sure that they really get it at the plant,” Ana hackman, a farmer and a farmer and management member in the naked botanical. “But for any perennials like the dandelion, it is not going to kill it, as it is just going to kill its top part.”
“Anything that has a tap root, which is a perennial, or a perennial that contains a lot of roots that go down into the soil, warm water cannot be found,” that continues. “By the time it gets down the soil, the water cools down.”
What when using boiling water to kill weeds
When using this method Kill weedsYou will need to ensure that weeds are not directly next to one of your garden plants – which you planted and are there to be there. This is because hot water is not selective when it kills plants and will scorch them around your goal.
“I just worry, if you are going to your vegetable garden and you are killing a weed by your vegetable, you are going to kill a vegetable,” says hackman.
She also notes that the approach should not be used in not in the lawn, not in raised beds or vegetable gardens, because I just fear that you will kill the plant. ”
Other DIY ways to kill weeds in the garden
Hackman and Watson recommends both Weed From the ground with your hands or garden equipment. Watson advised Using a garden hoe To cut the top of the weed above the soil.
“They then break down and put nutrients back into the garden,” they say. “They all wilt all very quickly, and within a few days, you won’t see them.”
If you are working with one dandelion Or another weed with a taporot, Watson suggests Using vinegar to dehydrate the plant,
“If you use white vinegar from the cupboard, it should start breaking the plant, and then take it to the taporot,” they say.
