non-chemical, cheap weed killer. opinions?

[MossyStonesViolet]

This discussion came up earlier in the summer... a lil late but the board wasn't around earlier this summer, ey?

So, to kill thistles, our family recipe has always been to slosh together some salt, vinegar, and dish soap and spray it on the thistle (or sidewalk crawlers).

Does this ruin the soil's pH for awhile? Like, if you had a bunch of thistles in one of your raised beds, and sprayed them with this solution (in a spritzer, not a hose or anything!) and tried to plant snow peas or tomatoes or something in that bed, would the acidity (or is it alkaline?) have messed up the soil?

[neetanddave]

Not that I know of. The Jerry Baker guy I like so much recommends white vinegar, dish soap and water in a spray bottle for a weed killer, without the salt yours has.

The salt would make it alkaline, which would actually help if your soil was acidic to begin with.

[Steve]

Almost all chemicals affect PH. However, one way to alter that is by soaking with water, leaching thr chemicals downwards. I once had a job in Northern British Columbia where they carved a town out of Forest and a mountain, for coal mining. When we analyzed the soil, it was riddled with salts. A week of soaking the ground did the trick.