Blanch Your Weeds, Study Suggests
June 4, 2012 You don't need to spray weedkiller to remove the weeds between your paving stones. Six treatments throughout the summer with either boiling water, steam or careful flaming will dispatch even the hardiest of unwanted plants. This is the conclusion of a new PhD project from the University of Copenhagen.
Weeds can be killed off with repeated treatments, but it is important that each treatment is dosed correctly.
Basically, every single plant needs to be burned lightly -- or blanched -- and treated frequently.
However, little is achieved if you just treat the weeds superficially by running quickly over the paving stones. The leaves must collapse completely -- and the plant's stem must also be struck by the flames.
Six times a season
Treatment must be repeated up to six times a season. A regime of fewer treatments encourages grass weeds to regrow, while more treatments are not necessarily more effective:
"We have conducted several kinds of experiments since 2004. Controlled field experiments, experiments where we have planted weeds in hard surfaces and then burned them, as well as experiments with 'real' weeds on stones. We have observed that the treatments work. It does not really matter whether you use flaming, steam or boiling water. However, if we only give a few treatments or if we use low doses, the weeds quickly reappear. Very low doses can even stimulate grass growth. This is also the case with many herbicides," says Anne Merete Rask, PhD from Forest & Landscape, Faculty of Life Sciences at the University ofCopenhagen.
Read More:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531102340.htm