But the ultimate survivor comes back stronger to cause more destruction. If your lawn is infested with purslane and you searched for ways to remove it, you might have heard about vinegar. So, will vinegar kill Purslane?
Vinegar is highly efficient for killing Purslane, but it depends on several factors to reveal the final results. You can determine the effectiveness of vinegar by knowing the Purslane growth, root depth, and weed effects on nearby plants. This guide will help you use vinegar correctly to eliminate Purslane and give some additional tips to get a permanent outcome.
Will Vinegar Kill Purslane? - Using Vinegar-Based Solution
There could be plenty of weeds in your lawn, but you can identify Purslane by its red stem, small-sized and yellow flowers, and fleshy leaves. You will find them grown outward circular in your garden. Even a single purslane can generate a full infestation to threaten all the plants in the yard.
By using vinegar, you can put an end to this threat.
Things You Will Need
Here are the following items you will need to make a vinegar-based solution.
- Vinegar
- Dish Soap
- A Spray Bottle
- Some Salt.
Method: How to Kill Purslane With Vinegar?
- Add vinegar inside the spray bottle along with salt and dish soap.
- You can take the measured amounts depending on the infestation.
- Usually, a gallon of vinegar and a cup of salt is sufficient.
- Your solution is ready; shake it well to spray or pour it on Purslane.
Zoe Harvey
Safety Tips to Consider
Vinegar is always considered a non-toxic solution and safe for animals and humans, but this isn’t the case with plants. Vinegar doesn’t have the ability to differentiate which plants are supposed to be killed or which should remain safe.
As soon you put it in your yard, it will kill all the plants getting in contact with it. Therefore, you have to be cautious with its use.
The best solution is to adjust the spray bottle in a streamlined setting to pour directly over the roots, or in case of mist, make sure they are sprayed carefully on Purslane. Try your best to keep other plants safe from getting under a spray or getting in touch with vinegar through roots.
Household vinegar usually has 10% acids that are effective in burning foliage, but the roots will not be affected. So it will prove to be a temporary solution.
In contrast, horticulture vinegar has 20% acid and tends to burn everything coming its way. You can’t use it for household purposes.
Vinegar is the deadliest for wildlife and invertebrates, such as frogs, worms, and salamanders.
How Long Can Vinegar Take to Kill Purslane Once For All?
After applying vinegar to Purslane, it takes almost 24 hours to kill all weeds. It is proven the quick and easiest way to kill Purlsane but, unfortunately, not a permanent solution. Most weeds regrow after a certain period to cause more rapid infestation.
If you find Purslane again in your yard, it would be better to repeat this treatment to control their growth or wilt the already-grown weed.
Is Vinegar The Only Way to Kill Purslane?
Vinegar is undoubtedly a great way to kill Purslane due to its least non-toxic nature to other creatures and quick results. But the Purslane weeds are very stubborn and reborn again, even well-treated with vinegar.
If you spray vinegar, it will only help to kill leaves or foliage without disrupting the roots. So, overall, vinegar is a temporary solution and not much effective. This is often used for killing immature Purlsane to minimize its spread.
How to Get Rid of Purslane Naturally?
If Purslane weed has grown in your lawn, you can remove it naturally, such as pulling it by hand, applying herbicides to seeds, and treating them with pre-emergent herbicides.
Remove By Hands
The Purslane plants have shallow roots even after maturing, which makes them highly resilient and resprout if a short piece of roots is left in the soil. You can pick them with a hand trowel or any digging tool.
After removing, do not throw its leaves, stem, or roots because it will grow wherever you throw its parts. It is better to dispose of all parts tightly bound in a bag.
Mulching As Permanent Treatment
Purslane is a low-growing weed, so you can create a barrier of 3 inches to keep it away from your yard. To create a fence, you can proceed with bark mulch, ground covering, and ornamental rocks. However, among all, ground covering is the best way to hinder the Purslane growth.
Another efficient way is to landscape fabric lay on land before applying mulch. It will make a semi-permeable layer to allow only water and nutrients to enter the soil and feed plants. You can permanently restrict the sprouting of Purslane with landscape fabric.
Use Weed Killers
Vinegar isn’t the only weed killer; many other solutions are also effective for this purpose. You can apply those chemicals or herbicides in the right proportions by following the right instructions. Like vinegar, these weed killers are also ineffective on seeds and kill Purslane only when it is mature.
Use Pre-Emergent Herbicides
All the above methods remove Purslane from the garden, but pre-emergent herbicides are the ideal way to prevent weeds from regrowing in your lawn. These herbicides are applied in the spring when the seeds are near the germination phase.
The pre-emergent weed killer will stop the Purslane from growing.
Note: Remember, whenever you will apply pre-emergent chemicals, they will prevent all seeds from sprouting without differentiating. It’d be better to avoid using them if you have recently seeded your lawn.
Wrapping Up
Surprisingly, Purslane offers plenty of benefits by providing healthy nutrients and vitamins, but it is a threat to plants and pets (dogs) due to soluble calcium oxalate. It is a fast-growing weed that will take up all the necessities of your garden plants, risking their lives.
So, you can kill Purslane with vinegar and other chemicals to get rid of them.
