Vinegar Uses and Vinegar Tips: Gardening with Vinegar

Vinegar Uses and Vinegar Tips: Gardening with Vinegar
Author: Kathryn Bax - Website Owner and Developer of Country Living and Farm Lifestyles

Vinegar has many uses and benefits and best of all, it is safe to use, doesn't harm the environment, is freely available and it is cheap! It really is, therefore your eco-friendly organic pesticide, organic insecticide, and organic herbicide.

Here you will learn about the uses of vinegar and how you can garden with vinegar and pick up a few vinegar tips along the way. Along with getting rid of garden pests, it has so many other uses as well. It can also be used full-strength or diluted depending on the job at hand. It can also be used quite readily in the kitchen, bathroom and other areas of the house, but today, we are going to just concentrate on the outside areas. One word of warning, however, remember that when it is all said and done, you are working with acid, so make sure you protect your eyes. So what exactly can vinegar do for you?

Vinegar Uses: Keep Cats at Bay

First of all, for those of you who are plagued by pests and little critters in the garden, fret no more. Gardening with vinegar will keep cats at bay if you spray in areas you want to deter them, particularly that sand-pit you may have in the garden for the children but those cats will insist on using as their own private toilet! Heavily spray full-strength vinegar around the edges of the sandpit and remember to re-apply after it rains.

Vinegar Uses: Problems with Rabbits?

Are those rabbits eating your vegetables, particularly your beans and peas? Soak corncobs in full strength vinegar for a couple of hours until they are thoroughly soaked. You may even soak them overnight if you wish. Then place the cobs strategically around your veggie patch. They will keep rabbits away for as long as you re-soak your corncobs every two weeks.

Vinegar Uses: Problems with Ants?

Do you have an ant problem? Here's another great vinegar tip. As an organic insecticide, you can apply full-strength vinegar to the ants and they will not come anywhere near the stuff. This is very useful if you find a trail of them making a way into your house. Just spray the thresholds and reapply every couple of days to ensure that they stay away.

Vinegar Uses: Problems with Snails and Slugs?

Gardening with vinegar is an answer to your problems with slugs and snails and vinegar here is your organic pesticide. Slugs are real pests, because they eat both vegetables, especially lettuces and plants, especially hostas. In this case, vinegar acts as a poison to the slugs because, if you spray slugs with it directly, they will die. You can treat snails in exactly the same way. However, because vinegar is also a herbicide, be careful where you spray your vinegar. Salvias for example will die, if they are sprayed as a casualty.

Vinegar Uses: Problems with Fruit Flies?

Are your fruit trees being invaded by fruit flies? Try this fruit fly bait, which is deadly and effective. Take 1 cup of water, a half a cup of cider vinegar, a quarter of a cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of molasses. Mix it all together. Take old tin cans without their lids and make two holes in opposite ends for wire handles. Attach the handles and add an inch of the mixture to each can. Hang 2 - 3 tins in each tree. Check on the traps on a regular basis to refill and clean when necessary.

Vinegar Uses: Vinegar as an Organic Fungicide

Ever thought of vinegar being an organic fungicide? After you have been digging in the garden with your gardening tools, soak them in a bucket of half-strength vinegar. This will act as a fungicide and kill off anything that may be lurking unsuspectingly so that there is no possibility of cross-contamination when you use them next.

Gardening with Vinegar will also help ailing plants. Are your garden plants struggling and your roses suffering from black spot or other fungal diseases? Take 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and mix it with 4 litres of compost tea. Now spray your garden plants with this mixture and see the difference. For roses, the method is slightly different. Take 3 tablespoons of cider vinegar, and mix it with 4 litres of water to control those fungal diseases. Of course, don't forget the compost tea either on your roses to get the best results. For powdery mildew take 2-3 tablespoons of cider vinegar and mix with 4 litres of water and spray your plants. This will help control the problem.

Vinegar Uses: Vinegar for Acid Loving Plants

What about your acid-living plants like azaleas, gardenias and rhododendrons? Are they flowering as well as they could be? If not increase the soil's acidity with this little vinegar tip. In hard water areas, add 1 cup of vinegar to 4 litres of tap water. It will also release iron into the soil for the plants to use. And if you have too much lime in your garden, add vinegar to neutralize it.

Vinegar Uses: Vinegar as an Organic Herbicide

In gardening with vinegar you can use it as an organic herbicide. Do you have weeds coming up in between your paving slabs on our driveway or pathway that you cannot remove by hand? Don't use a herbicide that is know to damage the environment. Use eco-friendly vinegar as an alternative instead. Take 1 litre of boiled water, 2 tablespoons of salt and 5 tablespoons of vinegar. Mix altogether, and whilst still hot, pour onto the offending plants.

Vinegar Uses: Vinegar for Seed Germination

Did you know that you can improve your germination success rate of seeds by using vinegar? This is especially useful for those seeds that are more difficult to germinate such as asparagus and okra, morning glories and moonflowers. Rub the seeds gently first between two pieces of coarse sandpaper. Then soak the seeds overnight in 500 ml of warm water, 125 ml of vinegar and a squirt of washing-up liquid. Plant the next day as normal. You can use the same method, but without the sandpaper for nasturtiums, parsley, beetroot, and parsnips.

Vinegar Uses: Vinegar and Chickens

Will gardening with vinegar help you with squabbling chickens? You bet! Here is another vinegar tip, this time using cider vinegar. Add a tablespoon of cider vinegar to their drinking water, and they will stop pecking each other!

If you are impressed with the many uses of vinegar, you should be, because it is a very useful, and cheap liquid that is accessible to everyone. You may also be amazed when you hear that vinegar has some incredible health benefits as well. If you are interested in your health, and would like to learn more about the health properties of vegetables, vinegar and aloe vera, then Click Here for more details.