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Boiling water Herbicide/Pesticide

Boiling water is probably one of the most simplistic forms of weed control and ant mound control, however it does have its drawbacks.

First of all it will kill everything good and bad. Goodbye microorganisms. This means it's application in a planted garden is limited. It will damage the roots of nearby plants and may even kill them if they are too close. You can also burn yourself if you are not careful. If you don't mind brown patches of dead grass in your lawn it is a great way to deal with ant piles (some may need allot of water) or crab grass etc....

There are some wonderful things about boiling water though. No pollution, no harmful residue... zip, zero, nada... Just sterilized water. All the microorganisms it kills will come back very easily in an organically maintained lawn or garden. It is great for killing the weeds in the cracks of sidewalks... but you must pour it slowly into the crack. It is not selective ... boiling water will kill almost everything. Some things may need more.

An important thing to remember is that if you do not succeed the first time... it means you did not use enough. When you reapply... you must use more since whatever lived through the first application is deeper than you reached before. A simple cure for this it to use a large amount to begin with.

Materials:

Large pot
Something to cook on. (a large camping burner (turkey fryer) will let you set up right next to your target (take precautions to avoid grass fire))

Ingredients:

Water
(2% salt- optional.... see additional information)

Making the Boiling Water:

Start the burner/stove
Place water in pot and place pot on the stove.
Wait for it to boil.

How to use Boiling Water:

Use protective hand covers. If the pot is too large for one person use 2 people. Use every precaution you think is necessary, you are responsible for your own protection from the scalding water.

Locate your target (ant pile, weed, etc...) and slowly pour the water on the target making sure it is soaked into the ground where you want it.  If it runs across the ground... the runoff will kill small plants, If you need to you can dig a small hole to keep it where you want it, for ant piles shove a pole/rebar in the center and swirl around to make a sort of funnel (this gets it to the queen faster).

Additional Information:

Some people swear that salt makes most weed killers better... and it does. However over time, with repeated applications, it can build up in the soil and keep anything from growing and keep the soil from being a living soil. We suggest against it. Some people only use salt on the cracks in pavement.