Available at most big box retailers including Tractor Supply, HD, Lowes.
You will in all likelihood need to use your own spray rig and not the one included in the packaging. Make sure you get a fresh batch by looking for a time-date stamp. Shake well. Do not apply on windy days.
Really, despite the hassle of plastic sheeting and the timeframe, solarization is the best way to go, bar none. And if you are in the northern hemisphere, you can use summer sun to your advantage, now.
ETA:
If you have a seriously hard time getting contractors to do your bidding, try to fence around your high-value plants using safety-orange plastic mesh construction fencing. I have found through bad experiences that even using survey (tape) flagging did not keep their minds focused. The good news is that the construction fencing is easy to handle, light, cuts with scissors, can be used and re-used, and comes in really handy when you need a quick-fix for a hole in a real fence, or cat door that broke, or as drapery over the flower beds of baby plants.
I DALR, and saw some other organical safe ones recco’d by Better Homes and Gardens, and also came upon a reccomendation for - get this - boiling water!
Boiling water can kill a lot of things.
I suppose weeds that do not have a long tap root will be likeliest to die first.
I have used boiling water on fire ant mounds (it’s not as effective at Howard Garrett’s fire ant “soil conditioner” recipe that includes Medina® Orange Oil and a few other ingredients).
Boiling water is certainly far safer than flaming one’s weeds, which I have seen used in organic vineyards (big ag projects adhering to organic standards and OMRI protocols).
I can’t imagine walking back and forth with many pots of boiling water is going work for large areas that need to be weeded, but would work great spot-treating weeds in cracks in the driveway, sidewalk, paths etc.
I appreciate that even Better Homes and Gardens is attempting to reduce our use of pesticides. Yay for that, and I mean it.
They recco’d a couple w/o organic certification, but pointed it out, and most were certified. They did a good job of explaining the directions, and provided the ingredients. A couple had orange oil in.
i don’t know about white vinegar but i have used need oil for my indoor plants to manage certain pests and it works well. Some places will sell you pre-made mixes to spray, but you can buy the oil yourself and mix it with water and some castille soap. It stinks to high heaven, kinda smells like brand new rubber tires but i do like that its a natural pesticide.
no experience with either grapes or lantern flies. i wonder, tho, if something like this might help?
i have been using this horticultural oil on just about everything, starting with drenching the soil before planting, then every 2-3 weks on the foliage. it has wiped out whiteflies, cutworms and thrips, where i was decimated in previous seasons without.
has allowed things to prosper, where before those plants would have succumbed to pestilence and fungus.
We are bagging and stapling grape clusters (the baby grape bunches) shut in wax paper sandwich bags to protect against black rot.
We have not been spraying, or weren’t in the past few weeks. I will ask again when I clock in this week.
I had been told currently we have no truly effective tool in the toolbox, at least in Virginia. I was told to tell customers to “pick your poison” but it basically amounts to “spray n pray” AFAICT.
Sustainable practices generally re “pest management”:
My untested potential options, which may not work, include lures, traps…
What? No tomatoes? Good time for those now. Back in the day our wonderful maternal grandparents in Bushwick, B’klyn grew (among other things) classic red tomatoes in the large yard behind their tenement house. That was not long before tasteless, supermarket tomatoes took over. As a young child and being babysat by them, I was introduced to eating their tomatoes like they were apples—and we would lightly salt them between bites. Scrumptious!
For the curious: The Bushwick location? Watch the scene in The French Connection movie where Popeye Doyle (costumed as Santa Claus) and his partner chased that guy into a huge empty lot. Sumner/Hopkins/Throop… sections of those (and other) streets now gone. As usual, I’ll console myself with heirloom tomatoes.
I recall someone posting here on Elsewhere that solar farms can improve local ecosystems because they can provide shade and space for certain plants and organisms. Hopefully i’m remembering that correctly but anyway, i am always delighted when i hear about people using goats to get rid of vegetation.
Well, the experiment commences. Sprayed grape vines with neem oil/dish detergent mixture. I can certainly repirt that they did not appreciate getting sprayed with it. But is it “Gross, man, I’m eating here!” or “Well, guess I’m dead” remains to be seen. Will report back.
Good time for those now. Back in the day our wonderful maternal grandparents in Bushwick, B’klyn grew (among other things) classic red tomatoes in the large yard behind their tenement house. That was not long before tasteless, supermarket tomatoes took over. As a young child and being babysat by them, I was introduced to eating their tomatoes like they were apples—and we would lightly salt them between bites. Scrumptious!
