I’ve been using it for about a year now, and I’m pretty happy with its success. It’s most effective in full sun, where the vinegar can really dry out foliage, and much more effective on young new growth. It’s not a systemic, so it doesn’t kill the roots, but can kill all the top growth and starve the roots of perennials if reapplied. It leaves a temporary acidic residue that breaks down quickly. Depending on the strength you get, it’s quite caustic. I’d say:

1. Use in small quantities (mister bottle) at first and test on a few leaves. Observe over a few days & see if it works on the weed in question.

2. Wear hand & eye protection due to caustic nature of the overspray. Don’t spray in flip flops! (Don’t ask.) It will burn your skin, more severely if talking about the stronger 20% and up.

3. Don’t spray on a windy day, as it’s non-selective.

4. Mix with a bit of oil and a few drops of soap for longer stick & easier spraying.

I use it on my paths, and it works well there. I don’t like to use it too near plants because of all my beneficial critters. Here’s a good article on it if you want to know more:

https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/horticultural-vinegar-for-weed-control-part-1-zbcz1711

:-)

Ha! That's what I tell my garden helper! I think he finally believes me.

Thanks, all.I mainly want to try it to get rid of the weeds in order to make my paths; the idea would be maybe to spray first with this, then cover with plastic during the summer to fry anything that tries to come up, and then sow dwarf clover the following fall. Also, I was thinking of using it as an aid for getting rid of bramble and ginestra plants that are too deeply rooted to dig out. My technique for these dudes is to cut them down to the ground,if possible break some of their roots, etc, to weaken them, then cover them with plastic. But the fact is that usually this is a long struggle, because they send out shoots under the plastic, etc. So the vinegar might help with this; I could spray it on the young emerging shoots. The fact is, even if you don't pull out the roots, if you keep on stubbornly "pruning" a plant down to the ground,I think eventually it will die; it's just that you have to keep at it .

I agree, you can starve a plant to death by constantly removing its leaves. I have had to do this with some weeds that are too close to other plants to dig out fully. For this to work, you want the SOIL microbiology on your side, so be carful with soil sterilization, as this kills everything in the soil. Here’s what I’ve had good luck with; my DH & I jokingly call it the mafia treatment. I will spray an offending weed with vinegar, and then tie a plastic bag over it to intensify the vinegar‘s effect. Sandwich bags are good for little weeds. Newspaper sleeves work well for tall weeds as long as they aren’t ripped. Then I feed the soil with fish emulsion or molasses to kick start a feeding frenzy. The microbes will attack the dying plant and finish off the root system for me. This works best in a moist heavily mulched organic soil, because you need a variety of bacteria & fungus to break things down. In about two weeks I can remove the dead weed & plastic bag; it will usually snap away from the mostly eaten root system. This has worked great on Virginia creeper, smilax, air potato, Mexican primrose.

I‘ve also had really good luck just smothering stuff with several layers of overlapping cardboard & thick mulch on top (like 6-8 inches). I just snap off anything that tries to come through, or give it the mafia treatment if it starts to get any wise guy ideas about taking over my territory. ;-)

It never worked for me.I also had to pull the weeds out by the roots.

I use straight vinegar from Smart & Final in a spray bottle. As another poster said, seems to work best on weeds when they’re dry, looking for water. Doesn’t take much, doesn’t work on all weeds but it’s worth trying. Seems to work well in weeds that grow up in cracks.

I received a post on Facebook a few days ago and forgot to write down where it came from. It was a homemade recipe for 'weedbgone'. "1 gallon of vinegar, 2 cups of Epsom salts and 1/4 cup of Dawn dish soap. Mix and spray in the morning after the dew has dried. Will kill anything it touches. Weeds will be dead by evening."

I might try it, but you would have to use a canister sprayer not a hand held trigger sprayer. The soap will build up too much foam and hinder the sprayer.

I have used 20% horticultural vinegar frequently. I have bought online and found in a local German food grocery (commonly used to make pickles). I've had great success in using the super strength, with some limitations.

First, the smell is pretty strong. I wore a mask and still had a dizzy smell from the vinegar.

Second, your place will smell like vinegar for a while. We had a neighbor ask if we were making fish and chips and dousing with vinegar.

Third, I noticed some temporary staining on my pavers where I sprayed with vinegar. The bleaching did go away after a few days, but I was worried that I accidentally bleached the walkway. So you might want to patch test.

I used this type of vinegar to both kill weeds and to prevent them. It's great at killing above the surface but I've found they come back. More info on killing weeds with vinegar can be found here https://www.getgreenbewell.com/use-vinegar-to-kill-weeds/

You might be happier with a propane weed torch, which also is organic gardening and dehydrates the leaves, but you don't have to worry about overspray.
Carla in Sac

Carla, i'd be scared to use a propane torch, lol! Also, in my hot, dry garden, far from my home and with no running water, i'd be terrified of fire...I still have yet to try the vinegar!

Carla be careful in California too. The fire risk is horrendous.

Oh, I would never use one outside of the city!
But just to be clear, a propane torch is like a hair dryer, it blows hot air so it dehydrates the leaves. You are never supposed to set them on fire!
Carla in Sac

Did not know that,Carla. I imagined a live flame!

Hot & dry is the perfect time to try the vinegar. Works best in those conditions. :-)

i haven't used it but my mom has and she has great results. It does drift and I think some of the plants she didn't intend to hit were damaged.

I am planning to use it on some weeds that grow in the mulch. I am going to try applying it with a paint roller. Hopefully it doesn't melt my roller. Definitely going to stay away from the foam roller though.