I love gardening, but one part of my garden has those annoying horsetails. Sure, they look pretty, but they are very difficult to erradicate. They are one of the oldest plant species on the planet and have roots that can go down 8 feet, that is way taller than me.
I am always on the lookout for non toxic ways to kill weeds and have tried in the past to use a vinegar, salt and dish detergent mix (2 cups vinegar - the stronger the better, 1/8 cup salt, a squirt of dish detergent. Mix and spray. To melt the salt I have put the salt and vinegar in the microwave for 30 seconds), but it did not really work on those plants. It works quite well on other weeds. So what do to about those horsetails?
Then I remembered that using boiling water is a great way to kill weeds. First I tried to use my kitchen steamer on the weeds, but that did nothing. Then I wanted to use boiling water, but how? Well, I have an electric water kettle that I haven't used for ages. I dug it out and plugged it into my outdoor outlet and once the water boiled poured it over the horsetails. They don't seem to like it too much. The next day any above ground growth is dried up. So no I will have to see for how long I will have to repeat this to really kill them.
I am always on the lookout for non toxic ways to kill weeds and have tried in the past to use a vinegar, salt and dish detergent mix (2 cups vinegar - the stronger the better, 1/8 cup salt, a squirt of dish detergent. Mix and spray. To melt the salt I have put the salt and vinegar in the microwave for 30 seconds), but it did not really work on those plants. It works quite well on other weeds. So what do to about those horsetails?
Then I remembered that using boiling water is a great way to kill weeds. First I tried to use my kitchen steamer on the weeds, but that did nothing. Then I wanted to use boiling water, but how? Well, I have an electric water kettle that I haven't used for ages. I dug it out and plugged it into my outdoor outlet and once the water boiled poured it over the horsetails. They don't seem to like it too much. The next day any above ground growth is dried up. So no I will have to see for how long I will have to repeat this to really kill them.
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