Used Saltwater

[WingRider62]

My wife and I discovered a recipe for making home made weed killer. Anyway, the recipe is 1 gallon of Vinegar, 1 cup of Salt and dish soap. We tried it today do we are waiting to see how it works.  But, it got us thinking (which is usually not a good thing).  Has anyone tried using their used saltwater from water changes as any kind of weed killer? Not that it would really save much money, but just curious.

[milesmiles902]

I bet it would work. The spot that I always dump my old saltwater has nothing growing. Although, I am not sure if it is from prolonged exposure.

[PowderBlue]

Well I was in a hurry the other day, dumped 5 gallons of saltwater right onto one of my wife's flowers.... I'm still hearing about it, but the flower is still alive lol

Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

[Exodus]

I think the key in this is the Vinegar, not so much the Saltwater. My back patio is is covered in thick moss and I dump my bucket of old salt out there all the time without anything really being disturbed, though last year when I did a tear down and a Vinegar rinse after dumping the tank on the back patio everywhere the water had gotten to the moss was completely eliminated within 2 days.

[LadAShark]

The salinity could very well kill plants, assuming the salt remains in the soil. It really depends on the grain size of your sediment.

[Jeremevans]

I dump mine on the driveway and there are still weeds growing in the cracks. Seems like it would take a lot of salt accumulation to kill plants.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Tanuki]

Seems like it could work well.  I drain my sw out the backdoor into my yard and haven't noticed much die off, but Maybe the vinegar is the catalyst. 

[WingRider62]

Thanks for all of your input. I will give a try and let you know if it worksmor helps at all.

[pdxmonkeyboy]

vinegar is essentially a jug of acetic acid which is what is killing your plants. salt will definitely kill plants (if the salt concentration is high enough it essentially starves them for water as the root zone/soil concentration is too high for then to overcome). Remember the term active transport from biology..? that is what we are dealing with. (the use of energy to transport ions across a semipermeable membrane).

if you want to kill weeds.. vinegar. if you want to kill your neighbors huge god [language filter] siccamore tree that sheds h
hundreds and hundreds of spiky seed pods on to your lawn and deck... then a bag of kosher salt during a rainstorm will do it. Just saying...

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[ThadMan23]

My wife and I discovered a recipe for making home made weed killer. Anyway, the recipe is 1 gallon of Vinegar, 1 cup of Salt and dish soap. We tried it today do we are waiting to see how it works.  But, it got us thinking (which is usually not a good thing).  Has anyone tried using their used saltwater from water changes as any kind of weed killer? Not that it would really save much money, but just curious.

that's the best recipe next to crossbow! used alot of it last summer clearing brush for a food plot (I'm an avid hunter) and it worked better then expected! even killed all the poison oak witch means it works on broad leaf plants aswell!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320AZ using Tapatalk

[ThadMan23]

vinegar is essentially a jug of acetic acid which is what is killing your plants. salt will definitely kill plants (if the salt concentration is high enough it essentially starves them for water as the root zone/soil concentration is too high for then to overcome). Remember the term active transport from biology..? that is what we are dealing with. (the use of energy to transport ions across a semipermeable membrane).

if you want to kill weeds.. vinegar. if you want to kill your neighbors huge god [language filter] siccamore tree that sheds h
hundreds and hundreds of spiky seed pods on to your lawn and deck... then a bag of kosher salt during a rainstorm will do it. Just saying...

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

i have one in my front yard! ridiculous i thought about drilling a .5 hole 24" deep into the base downward and plumb a bottle of crossbow into it and let it drink itself to death lmao

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320AZ using Tapatalk

[NoDoze]

Increased salt quantities becomes toxic to plants. If it rains, it will dilute the salt.

[milesmiles902]

I was also thinking after reading, it might just be the soap. 

Soap is a darn good surfactant and that's what can easily kill a lot of plants. That's all Round-Up Weed Killer is. 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I was also thinking after reading, it might just be the soap. 
Soap is a darn good surfactant and that's what can easily kill a lot of plants. That's all Round-Up Weed Killer is. 

I'm going to have to disagree here. While round up (glyphosate) has a surfactant in it to increase foliar coverage, its actual mode of action is the interruption of synthesis of amino acids. This disrupts the movement of molecules through the plant, a build up of a certain compound that I don't remember, and the ultimate death of the plant.

Soap doesn't kill plants at all. In fact we use soap as a surfactant on many beneficial spray mixtures.

I don't mean to diss, but at least now you know.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[milesmiles902]

Oh, gosh. I misspoke.

You're right. Glyphosate is mixed with a surfactant in Round-up. I just swore I remember that it, itself, was a surfactant. My mistake. 

Although, after looking deeper, where the surfactant is applied on the plant (I.e. root, leaves, stem) plays a larger factor in the survival of the plant than the surfactant itself. While there are surfactants that when applied to any part of the plant will kill it.

I guess there are more factors in the home made weed killer than I thought.

 

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Oh, gosh. I misspoke.
You're right. Glyphosate is mixed with a surfactant in Round-up. I just swore I remember that it, itself, was a surfactant. My mistake. 
Although, after looking deeper, where the surfactant is applied on the plant (I.e. root, leaves, stem) plays a larger factor in the survival of the plant than the surfactant itself. While there are surfactants that when applied to any part of the plant will kill it.
I guess there are more factors in the home made weed killer than I thought.
 
 

Huh, i wasn't aware of surfactants that could kill plants. Makes sense though given the broad definition of surfactant. Our go to surfactant is Dr bronners

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[LadAShark]

Bleach would also work perfectly fine to kill plants. A combination of pouring bleach then pouring vinegar or vice versa could also neutralize (if measured properly) the pH change so you won't have to worry about planting in acidic/basic soil). 

As for reusing tank water, I'm pretty sure there'd be an easy way to separate the organics, the salt, and the water if I think back to O chem. 

 

Edit: hmm if I could find a semi-permeable membrane than only lets through water? Hmmm. Wait, silly me, that's RODI. Now if only there was a cheaper wayyyyy.

Edited April 23, 2017 by LadAShark