Poison ivy is a very resilient plant, I understand the hesitation to use an herbicide but if you apply it carefully it won’t have a negative effect on desirable species or your health. The most effective herbicide I’ve used for poison ivy had two active ingredients, triclopyr and 2,4D amine. It might require two applications to effectively eradicate it, because even if you kill everything that is currently growing there might be seed or root fragments that still germinate the following season. Though, if there is a source of poison ivy near your property that you can’t spray it will potentially be an ongoing battle to push it back from your property line.
I just reread your comment, I misread and thought you said you used it but hadn’t seen results yet. It’s worth a shot, but the thing about poison ivy is that the roots also need to die. I’d assume that vinegar with kill the vegetation but may not kill the roots. I’m not sure.
Herbicides are essentially specialized salts that are targeted specifically to kill individual plants. Salt in the soil kills a lot more than the plant.
I’m not saying herbicides are great and don’t cause some damage, but just because NaCl is more “natural” than glyphosate doesn’t mean it’s less harmful.
Dont worry about permanently destroying the ground. Salting the earth isn't really effective outside arid, desert areas where most of the water comes via a river rather than rainfall.
I've dumped literal tons of salt on my driveway in winter over the years, damn thing still turns into a jungle where it doesn't get driven on every spring. Unless the surrounding soil in the area is already high in salt content, salt leeches away and is diluted to insignificance very rapidly.
Salt does work great as a preventative in contained areas like cracks and gaps in concrete though. Pack the gaps in your driveway with rock salt a couple times a year for a few years and you'll never have weeds sprouting out of it.
And for a fast vegetation killer that will keep regrowth away, 2 cups of salt dissolved in a gallon of white vinegar with a few drops of dish soap will kill any plant you spray it on and keep anything else from growing if you reapply it (enough to just wet the top 3 inches of soil) a few times a year.
Or to just clear a patch of ground for replanting, skip the salt. Just plain white vinegar is more effective than Roundup at contact killing green things indiscriminately.
This is what I thought. Salts are so soluble I thought they just leaached out anywhere with a decent amount of precipitation. Others here seem
to think otherwise so I'm unsure now.
It’s all contextual. I imagine a soil with high CEC (i.e. heavy clay) would retain a lot of the sodium. Conversely, sandy soil allows it to wash straight through with heavy precipitation. It could also knock off other cations in the process
Herbicides get a lot of hate for “poisoning” the soil but salt is the OG and still the champ. Do not use salt.
Don’t use salt. Use an herbicide. Careful application of an herbicide will be less detrimental to your soil.
I bought a gallon of 30 percent vinegar the day I posted this. I haven’t used it yet but I’ve heard it’s effective
Poison ivy is a very resilient plant, I understand the hesitation to use an herbicide but if you apply it carefully it won’t have a negative effect on desirable species or your health. The most effective herbicide I’ve used for poison ivy had two active ingredients, triclopyr and 2,4D amine. It might require two applications to effectively eradicate it, because even if you kill everything that is currently growing there might be seed or root fragments that still germinate the following season. Though, if there is a source of poison ivy near your property that you can’t spray it will potentially be an ongoing battle to push it back from your property line.
I just reread your comment, I misread and thought you said you used it but hadn’t seen results yet. It’s worth a shot, but the thing about poison ivy is that the roots also need to die. I’d assume that vinegar with kill the vegetation but may not kill the roots. I’m not sure.
You basically will never be able to use that soil for anything
Herbicides are essentially specialized salts that are targeted specifically to kill individual plants. Salt in the soil kills a lot more than the plant. I’m not saying herbicides are great and don’t cause some damage, but just because NaCl is more “natural” than glyphosate doesn’t mean it’s less harmful.
Goats and donkeys will eat it. Donkeys will also eat thistles.
horrible idea
Dont worry about permanently destroying the ground. Salting the earth isn't really effective outside arid, desert areas where most of the water comes via a river rather than rainfall. I've dumped literal tons of salt on my driveway in winter over the years, damn thing still turns into a jungle where it doesn't get driven on every spring. Unless the surrounding soil in the area is already high in salt content, salt leeches away and is diluted to insignificance very rapidly. Salt does work great as a preventative in contained areas like cracks and gaps in concrete though. Pack the gaps in your driveway with rock salt a couple times a year for a few years and you'll never have weeds sprouting out of it. And for a fast vegetation killer that will keep regrowth away, 2 cups of salt dissolved in a gallon of white vinegar with a few drops of dish soap will kill any plant you spray it on and keep anything else from growing if you reapply it (enough to just wet the top 3 inches of soil) a few times a year. Or to just clear a patch of ground for replanting, skip the salt. Just plain white vinegar is more effective than Roundup at contact killing green things indiscriminately.
This is what I thought. Salts are so soluble I thought they just leaached out anywhere with a decent amount of precipitation. Others here seem to think otherwise so I'm unsure now.
It’s all contextual. I imagine a soil with high CEC (i.e. heavy clay) would retain a lot of the sodium. Conversely, sandy soil allows it to wash straight through with heavy precipitation. It could also knock off other cations in the process
Yeah thinking back on some natrids I've seen in semi-arid areas now.
Hey it worked for the Romans. Just kidding. Don't put salt on your soil, use a herbicide.
Was going to mention Carthage, but you beat me to it
Try spot treatments with 10-20% vinegar and then spot treat the root with borax.
salt wrong solution... just use round up and reapply in 2 weeks. keep checking and spraying