Does Popular Homemade Weedkiller Formula Work in the Western Colorado Climate?

You've undoubtedly encountered a formula for "homemade" weedkiller floating around the Internet. This mixture of vinegar, dish soap, and salt, is regarded by many as a miracle. Does it really work in our climate? Take a look.

The gallery above shows several shots, embarrassing shots, of my backyard. Despite what it looks like, I do occasionally do a little yard work. Unfortunately, this spring, weeds got a little out of control.

The shots show a patch of various weeds in my yard. This area of the yard receives direct sunlight from the start of the day to the end. These weeds were sprayed with a homemade mixture of the following components:

• vinegar
• Dawn blue dish washing soap
• salt

The area was sprayed with a household pump sprayer on two occasions, each a week apart from the other. Cost of the mixture, about 50 cents. These photos were taken a week after the second spraying. As you can see, not much has happened.

After a week long break, the area was sprayed again, this time using a residential quality weed spray purchased from a local home improvement store. Cost for this product: about $13. The mix was applied using the exact same weed sprayer.

The photos below were taken 96 hours after the application of the purchased weed spray product. As you can see, there is a noticeable difference.

Let me assure you, I'm not receiving kickbacks from the Round Up corporation. Secondly, I am aware the purchased weed spray was applied to weeds that had already been hit twice by the homemade mix. After three applications of spray, it's not hard to understand why the weeds would eventually surrender.

When it is all said and done, it seems as though the homemade mixture really didn't work as well as the Internet would have you believe. There were some results, but only marginal, and that was after two weeks and two applications.

There very well might be something to be said for the homemade mixture. Maybe I didn't get the proportions correct. In any event, for whatever reason, the homemade mixture did not seem to produce the rapid results shown by the purchased product. Give it a shot yourself, and see if you experience the same results.