Vinegar weed killer? Wrong answer!

Apparently it is all the rage on Pinterest theses days to tout the miracle of using vinegar as a weed killer. But like so many things on Pinterest it appears that most of these folks love the idea but have never actually tried it. Have you seen the failed projects.  Those make me laugh more than autocorrect.

Love this vinegar on my plants... in my kitchen.

So here is the truth about vinegar as a weed killer.  It does not work. Let me say that again; a thousand internet users can be and often are wrong.  Vinegar is not an effective weed killer.

Grocery store vinegar is usually a 5% solution of acetic acid in water. A few vinegars may be a little higher percentage but still mild enough to dress a salad without gastrointestinal trauma.

Spraying vinegar on the leaves of a plant damages the foliage.  If it is a small enough plant the vinegar might even kill the foliage.  But vinegar spray won't kill the roots.  If the root lives, the plant will grow back.

Dumping vinegar on a plant doesn't kill the plant either but it might harm the earthworms you want in your garden. And ultimately it just wastes perfectly good salad dressing.

Some garden centers (and Amazon.com) sell a 20% acetic acid solution as a weed killer.  This will kill many, but not all plants. It works better on broad leaf weeds than grass weeds.  However now you are working with a much stronger acid that can be very dangerous (think skin burns and blindness).

Do yourself a favor and keep the vinegar out of the garden and try an effective weed killer instead... Perhaps a large dog, small child, chickens, etc.  Or you could pull weeds, which I find very therapeutic.  Or you can even smother them with newspaper, plastic, or cardboard.