RickF
Deeply Rooted
Here's the thought.. Go to the local home center and buy either lava rocks (the larger the better) or those ceramic ones that were moulded to look like charcoal briquettes.. Fire up the BBQ and heat those up for 30 minutes or so (to ensure heat saturation) to the hottest heat you can get.. Meanwhile dig a small trench or pit where the weeds have been nasty and running out of control.. Take the heated lava rocks/briquettes and toss them into the trench/hole and cover with dirt.
Assuming you do not have a dirt that has much of anything organic in it and it has been watered recently (at least 24 hours earlier), it should conduct the heat from the lava rocks/briquettes and send it into the surrounding soil killing everything within some amount of space..
Obviously I've not tried this but it seems like it would certainly work assuming the soil is not too wet which could cause the rocks to explode I suppose -- similar to a glass measuring cup that changes temps too fast..
I would think the heat permeation would be 8-10" or more in each direction including down which should completely cook the weeds since the immediate heat will be considerable (>300F)... I think that if someone has too much organic material in the soil they might want to avoid this since it might catch the organic material on fire -- OR perhaps use a lower temperature to heat the rocks to -- perhaps <300F..
Yes, I realize this might be a tedious process but if it can kill my bermuda grass once and for all, then it's worth it to me! I was at the local OSH store the other day and they had one product to eradicate bermuda grass and it said it could take 7 months to be gone with monthly spraying.. Of course I'm also concerned with what sort of chemical residues might remain in the soil for an extended period of time too, hence my interest in some other means..
Comments?
Assuming you do not have a dirt that has much of anything organic in it and it has been watered recently (at least 24 hours earlier), it should conduct the heat from the lava rocks/briquettes and send it into the surrounding soil killing everything within some amount of space..
Obviously I've not tried this but it seems like it would certainly work assuming the soil is not too wet which could cause the rocks to explode I suppose -- similar to a glass measuring cup that changes temps too fast..
I would think the heat permeation would be 8-10" or more in each direction including down which should completely cook the weeds since the immediate heat will be considerable (>300F)... I think that if someone has too much organic material in the soil they might want to avoid this since it might catch the organic material on fire -- OR perhaps use a lower temperature to heat the rocks to -- perhaps <300F..
Yes, I realize this might be a tedious process but if it can kill my bermuda grass once and for all, then it's worth it to me! I was at the local OSH store the other day and they had one product to eradicate bermuda grass and it said it could take 7 months to be gone with monthly spraying.. Of course I'm also concerned with what sort of chemical residues might remain in the soil for an extended period of time too, hence my interest in some other means..
Comments?