Natural Herbicides are Safe and Inexpensive
Natural Weed Control Averts Potential Environmental Disasters
Apr 26, 2009
Natural weed control includes old-fashioned pulling, burning with a torch, and applying herbicidal soap. Weed pulling requires no explanation. Portable propane torches can be purchased from garden supply outlets. Use these torches to carefully burn weeds to the ground.
The Good Herbicides
A 20-80 solution of vinegar and water may be sprayed on weeds. Salt can be added to the mixture but may affect soil fertility. Herbicidal soaps are available and work in a similar manner to the vinegar solution. The soap or vinegar disrupts the cell membrane of the plant and causes it to die. In a sense it burns the plant. Weeds treated in this manner can grow back from the roots. For this reason, it works best on young weed seedlings.
Don't forget that a nice heavy mulch after planting is effective for choking out weeds. Corn gluten meal, a by product of cornstarch, can be used as a pre-emergent herbicide. The gluten meal causes seedling roots to break down and kill the plant. Corn gluten meal has no effect on plants beyond the sprouting stage, so it will not harm vegetables in the garden or mature weeds.
The Bad Herbicides
Atrazine, one of the most widely used herbicides, has been linked to cancer in humans, and sexual deformities in frogs. The most widely used herbicide in the world is 2-4,d. The chemical can be found in over 1,500 herbicide products. Dogs in homes with lawns treated with 2-4d had an incidence of cancer three times higher than other dogs.
The Ugly Herbicides
Glyphosate, the ingredient in Roundup, is toxic to amphibians. Glyphosate is safe for use near mammals, but there is some debate as to whether it is an endocrine disruptor. But that's not the ugly part.
Monsanto Corporation, makers of Roundup, created a genetically modified canola. The modified canola is resistant to Roundup, making it easier to treat weeds. Sound good? Think again.This genetically modified canola can cross pollinate with weeds, making them resistant to Roundup. No one knows the possible effects of genetically modified food crops intermingling with native plants.
As well, Monsanto sued a Canadian farmer whose canola field was contaminated with the Monsanto genetically modified canola blown in by the wind. According the the Monsanto patent, farmers who use their canola seed must buy it every year. They cannot store seed.
The farmer, who was sued by Monsanto for use of their seed, lost 30 years of canola seed stock, bred by his own experience, to the invasion of a genetically modified seed. Humanity cannot feed itself through a monoculture of food crops.
The goal of organic gardening is not to destroy and obliterate unwanted elements, such as weeds, but to create a balance within the system. A balanced, healthy garden will yield a bountiful harvest for years to come.
