Saturday, September 15, 2012

It's Dead: Hot Water Bath Torture


Okay, why is she showing us DEAD plants? (Sorry, no pretty plant picks today!)

Because I want to help all my anti-herbicidal friends who occasionally want to commit planticide.

Particularly weedicide.

I have been doing a LOT of canning. Hey, it's tomato season! What's a woman to do?

I also have a lot of boiling hot water baths available when done. Instead of pouring this resource down the drain, I have been spot treating areas when I have just weeds and want them DEAD: the area between my manicured planting and the dirt alleyway, the weeds between my pavers, the grassy rhizomeous weeds coming up between my stone bed borders.




As you can see from the picture of the dead plantain and the grass around it, my delivery method is not too precise. I am pouring directly from my canner onto the weeds. I'll leave you to think through delivery methods. Maybe a spray bottle set on "stream". The important part is using the just used water as soon as possible after you finished canning, the closer to boiling the better. I have tried this with simply hot water, in the 140 to 160 range and it is only so-so as to effectiveness. Within five minutes of canning, it's about 100% pouring directly on the crown of the plants.

Have at!

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