How to make a soda bottle weed killer spray shield
I have to kill the Canada thistle that is growing where I want to put my new vegetable beds. I have mentioned before that I do not garden 100% organic. One of the big reasons why is Canada thistle. I can’t get rid of the damn stuff. Pulling them out of the ground is the worst thing you can do as the root breaks and 2 thistles grow where one was before. They seem to be impervious to boiling water and bleach. I have even tried regular Roundup to no avail.
Today I bought super-strength Roundup for hard to kill weeds. Those suckers are gonna die.
But super-strength Roundup will kill the plants I want just as fast as it will (hopefully) kill the thistle and there is a slight wind today. So I will be using a soda bottle shield to make sure that the Roundup goes on the thistle and no place else.
Making a soda bottle shield is easy. You will need a regular plastic soda bottle and scissors.
Remove the cap from the soda bottle.
Cut off the bottom of the soda bottle.
Place the soda bottle over the desired target weed.
Spray the lethal Roundup plant toxin into the bottle through the top opening.
The soda bottle will keep the Roundup contained to just the weed and you won’t have to worry about the drift of the Roundup mist landing on the plants you want to keep.
hi .As i have a backyard habitat i never use chemicals.Just today I
dug up all the thistles (they’re small now) and transplanted them to one area of the garden.Later they have beautiful purple flowers and the finches love them.Enjoy the beauty of ALL nature.
sincerely sue
are you nuts!? this may work for you, but what about your poor neighbors or the people who live down the road a mile or so. now they have your thistle growing in their yard. i know of what i speak. the thistle has cost me hundreds in new plant material. it loves to invade my beautiful iris bed and weave its roots in with those of my rhizomes. i have had to totally tear down the bed twice in the last three years, and still have lost over 25% of my flowers.
Just be sure to leave it in place for awhile. I have heard some say they lifted it and it dripped some of the roundup on a good plant, so leave the bottle in place for an hour maybe? I save the bottles and then I can kill several in a short time! lol My problem is trumpet vines.
Hello…When I use a 3 gallon hand sprayer I usually mix a 6% solution (that’s strong) of Roundup and 2,4-D. 2,4-D is Weed-Be-Gone basically, except now 2,4-D comes in different strengths. RoundUp will kill the root and 2,4-D will burn the tops off. 2,4-D just helps the RoundUp work faster. Anyway, I just place small buckets, flower pots, cottage cheese containers or whatever I can find over the plants I want to keep then spray the rest. Wait a little while so the buckets or whatever are dry (won’t hurt the plants) then remove them. Another thing I do in the spring is to use a 3 point sprayer on my tractor to spray the entire garden with RoundUp, wait a week then plant. This usually keeps the weeds away for about a month. After that, you can use the hand sprayer with the containers.
Thanx for listening…..Grady
by the sounds of it sue up there has scotch thistles or nodding thistle …there weeds it is againts the law to purposefuly grow them or have them on your property and not make any atempt to remove them
once those birds get into it they spread the seeds and then they dump then down the road on farms and other places
give a thought about the farmers like me who have to implement a $10,000 intergrated pest managment system just to make the place viable
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I will have to try the soda bottle sprayer. We have this tuberous plant that looks sort of like a dwarfy elephant’s ear thingy (its not the real deal) that’s growing in our front flower bed. I have tried digging it up many many times. The roots go under the driveway, and its impossible to get out without removing the driveway. Aargh.
I think its coming from down the block in a rental unit that doesn’t do anything to the yard except spray fertilizer. Its time for that thing to die, as the compost I put on the flowers is helping the monster grow.
Slight drama added for emphasis. 🙂
Hi Hannah,
I live in Australia and found your website to be very interesting with lots of good tips, and funny too! I just wanted to thank you for providing me a way to look after my garden using household items.
All the best from Down Under!!!
Another way to be selective is rubber glover and a pair of old cotton gloves over top you can then put the weed killer on the glove and wipe the leaves of the offending plant and not get it on anything you may want to keep. As well and not getting it on your skin. Takes more time but works well.
Who cares about neighbors down the street. As long as my lawn or garden is good, I could care less.
Where I live, you legally have to remove thistles on your property, due to their aggressive growing habits.
Greg is simply a selfish person to not care about his neighbors. Grow up and become a part of your community!
Ooo, I like that, Gail! I’ve used a cheap foam paint brush in the same way, to get weeds among the garden plants. It doesn’t hold much weed killer though, for the size of the brush, and a bigger brush is less selective. Will try the glove method.
And for isolated weeds in the garden, thank you Hanna – the shield should work great to prevent wind drift (here in rural Kansas, the wind blows about 364 days a year!)
Instead of using Round Up I use Vinegar – it works just as good but is safe for my pets & kids to be around. The same as Round Up, I spray Vinegar on a hot day so it doesn’t get washed away, plus vinegar doesn’t hurt my soil. I love the bottle idea to protect my other plants!
Greg, while I do agree with embracing what nature offers us and smile at the enjoyment your neighborhood birds must have in your yard, I think your attitude toward the effect on your neighbors is shortsighted. Monsanto and others could justify their actions with statements similar to the one you made above. The disregard for the future effect of actions taken today is a major component of why the planet is in a health crisis. Try to consider the effect you have on the WHOLE community rather than just one, winged, facet of it.