The Great Weed War: Could Apple Cider Vinegar Be Our Secret Weapon?
If you’ve ever grown anything, whether it’s a window box of herbs or a few acres of something more substantial, you’ll know the feeling. That constant, nagging, sometimes overwhelming presence of… weeds! They’re the uninvited guests at every garden party, aren’t they? And for us, with our saffron, keeping those beds clean without dedicating our lives (and a small fortune in wages) to hand-weeding has been a real head-scratcher.
We're all about keeping our saffron as clean and natural as possible. While we're not officially organically certified, we're passionate about producing a food product that's as close to organic as we can get. That means those traditional chemical sprays are a definite no-go for us. But then what? How do you effectively control weeds, especially when labour is one of your biggest costs? Is there a better, more cost-effective way to keep those pesky plants at bay while staying true to our "clean food" ethos?
So, like many modern-day problem solvers, we turned to the internet and tapped into our local network. "What are people using out there?" we wondered. Two main ideas kept popping up as alternatives to the usual chemical arsenal: boiling water and vinegar.
Now, boiling water… I mean, it sounds beautifully simple, right? Pour hot water on a weed, and it’s a goner. But then the practicalities hit you. How on earth do you keep vast quantities of water boiling hot out in the field? And can you imagine the health and safety paperwork trying to manage that with a team? Visions of sloshing buckets and potential scalds were enough to put that idea on the back burner pretty quickly! It just didn’t seem like a workable solution for us on a larger scale.
This naturally led us to explore the vinegar option. How does it actually work, though? From what I can gather (thank you, Google!), the acetic acid in vinegar essentially works by drawing moisture out of the plant, leading to its desiccation. It’s like the weed gets a really, really bad drying-out day. For it to be super effective, especially on tougher weeds, you need a good concentration, often more than what you find in your standard kitchen cupboard vinegar.
And then, as often happens when you’re deep in a problem, we had a stroke of luck. We stumbled upon a fantastic Kiwi company, Goulter's – you might know them, they’re the vinegar people! (You can check them out at https://www.vinegarpower.co.nz/). It turns out they do a whole range of organic vinegar products, from the apple cider vinegar you might use to get your pork crackling to really crackle (a top tip in itself!) right through to a purpose-built weed control product called WeedX. Bingo! Could this be the answer we were looking for?
We decided to give it a trial run on a section of our saffron planting. The Goulter's team advised that WeedX works best on smaller plants – it makes sense, as the spray can access the plant more easily. So, we first ran the weed eater over the area to knock everything down to size, then we applied the WeedX.
And the result? Honestly, it was pretty impressive. By the next day, we were looking at probably a 90% knockdown rate. The weeds were looking very sorry for themselves indeed! We were stoked.
Naturally, with that kind of success, we were keen to do more. We expanded our trial, and as we learned more about how and when to apply the spray, our success rates got even better. It seems the more actively the weed is growing, the better and faster the WeedX works. Of course, once our saffron corms started to show signs of life and send up their own precious shoots, we had to put a stop to spraying in those beds. The spray is indiscriminate – it would knock back the saffron just as easily as the weeds! But by that stage, we had a good, clean base to work from, which made a huge difference.
This got us thinking… if it’s working this well on the saffron beds, what about our peonies? Could this natural alternative help us control weeds there too? Peonies are a bit different, but the weed pressure is just as real. So, we set up a test block. We started by applying the spray by hand, just to see, and then progressed to using our standard spray setup.
The initial results were fascinating. The weed knockdown was almost instant – really excellent results, just like we’d seen with the saffron. But here’s the interesting bit: some of the rogue peony shoots that got hit by the spray seemed less affected than the weeds. Why would that be? We’re not entirely sure yet, but our current theory is that peony leaves might have a slightly "oily" or waxy surface, causing the spray to roll off more easily. This wasn't universal, though, and the peonies on the outside rows, which probably got a lighter dose, seemed less affected. It’s definitely something that needs more investigation!
So, what are we tinkering with now? Well, the scientist in me is curious!
- We’re looking at different spray dilution rates. Is there a sweet spot where we can still effectively kill the weeds without impacting the peonies?
- Could our saffron plants, if accidentally sprayed when more mature, show a similar resilience to what we’re seeing in some peonies? (Though we’re treading carefully here!)
- How long will the spray’s effects last? What’s the re-application interval looking like?
- And the big question for peonies: could WeedX be used as a spot spray once the peonies are mature, maybe even "in season" for those pesky weeds that pop up between the bushes?
It’s all a bit of an experiment, as farming often is, but it’s an exciting one. Reducing our reliance on manual labour for weeding would be a huge win, both in terms of cost and freeing up our team for other critical tasks. And doing it in a way that aligns with our desire to keep things natural? That’s the dream, isn’t it?
If you’re facing ongoing weeding challenges and you’re on the lookout for a natural alternative, perhaps apple cider vinegar, and specifically a product like WeedX, is worth considering. Why not give Charlie and the team at Goulter's a call? They’re a knowledgeable bunch and passionate about what they do. Or, if you’d just like to know more about our experiences, feel free to reach out – let’s talk! We’re always happy to share what we’re learning.
What natural weed control methods have you found effective? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Written with the support of Google Gemini.