La maison Piper has a lot of paving stones around it. That means lots of weeds sprouting up.
I’ve heard of weed torches that use a small propane tank to burn the suckers.
Anyone have any experience using them? Good? bad? Die they get rid of weeds?
I’ve got one that I’ve used in the past. Mine has a hose and books to a 20 lb or larger propane tank.
You don’t need to burn the weeds just heat them enough so they wilt.
I bought my unit at either Harbor Freight or Northern Tool. Be sure to get one with a pizeo electric ignition.
Lots of videos on you tube.
Depending on the type of paving stones, it’s not impossible that a weed torch, if used carelessly, may damage them. Keep the torch moving and don’t get one spot too hot. I’m honestly not a fan of them. They work but IMHO, there are better, safer options.
Such as?
Five minutes ago someone posted in GQ (currently directly above this one) an OP about smoking weed–that word in the title-- and I was sort of impressed on the balls of that guy to now post this OP.
Never mind.
I can’t remember the name of the stuff that I use but it’s a non-specific chemical herbicide that pretty much kills everything green, good bad and indifferent. It’s not a glyphosate like Round-Up but it’s pretty effective. Spray it down every three or four years and does a good job at preventing weeds. Check with your local agricultural supply store and they should advise you.
And does it migrate into our nearby vegetable garden and contaminate our food?
I’ve got a firepit in my backyard, with a 3’ gravel ring around it. The creeping charlie LOVES to grow out into the gravel. So my SO got me one of those torches. It hooks onto any size tank that is compatible with your average backyard grill. Without adapters, it won’t work with the 1 lb propane tanks.
The burner works great. We actually got it because a raccoon kept pooping in the gravel, and from what I had read, there was a chance of parasites in the scat, best killed with heat. As said above, you don’t need to fry the weeds to a crisp, just until they are wilted. I try to keep my use of herbicides to a minimum, so the weed burner is a good alternative.
As an added bonus: FIRE!
I don’t use it within 50 feet of my small garden and don’t notice an issue BUT, the fact that I don’t notice an issue doesn’t mean there is no issue. Do you own research. Don’t trust a schmuck on the internet.
Weed killer works better. You can kill the stuff poking out with the torch but the roots are remarkably resilient.
Every place I would want to use it is much closer than 50 feet from our vegetables, so that’s a concern.
you may have to flame ON more often, but there are not too many hazardous side effects
out side of normal fire safety
If you think about it, unless you are applying a lot of heat to the soil and roots (and I’m assuming paving stones prevent that) then torching the top of a weed really doesn’t do anything more than snipping them or mowing them down. You take away the plants photosynthetic abilities for a few days, but most weeds will have a resilient root system (that’s part of what makes them weeds) and will just send up more growth for you to torch again.
So it depends what you mean by a lot of paving stones and how many weeds you need to deal with. With a couple hundred stones and 1 weed between each one a weed torch would probably do as well or slightly better than long-handled trimmers, particularly if you’re looking to avoid bending over or a lot of snipping and raking.
I’ve got a much larger area covered with very tough weeds to deal with than what I imagine you have; about 2,000m long by 3m wide (rural property). I tried a torch to simply burn off the dead dry above-ground parts that I’d mowed the previous week, which should take much less fuel and time than burning off living succulent plant material. I aborted the mission 1/2 hour in after I saw how much time and fuel it took me on a per-square meter basis.
For me round-up is easily 1/10 the cost and effort; and I wouldn’t worry about it contaminating your food - I’ve spent many years watching the local crop dusters spray down hundreds of acres of wheat with the stuff every fall to kill and dry the crop out evenly. It’s licensed by the govt and used on the wheat the bread in the local store is made from.
Just watched a story on my TV news involving round up and it’s alleged carcinogenic issues.
I use it on my gravel drive only because I’m too old to drag a 20 lb propane tank around.
I have one that I occasionally use to kill weeds. As said above, you don’t have to carbonize them, just enough to wilt them.
My primary use for the device is to start my charcoal grill. No more 30 minute start-up times with newspaper and a chimney or waiting for the kerosene flavor of lighter fluid to burn off! Charcoal is ready to cook on in about 90 seconds after hitting it with the 500,000 BTU weed burner.
Actually, you don’t want to burn the weeds. As mentioned by other posters, that does nothing to the roots. Just heat enough to cook the leaves - they should turn a bright green. The theory is that the wilted leaves will suck the moisture from the roots, leading to complete plant death. Seemed to work when I tried it back east (since moving to the desert I haven’t needed it).
ETA: I had one that attached to a small propane tank like the ones you use for plumbing. I could hit the weeds on a 1/2 acre lot all summer long on one tank full. You don’t need a 20lb propane tank.
They do make that kind also, that use the small tank. If you get the one for the big tank, with a hose and all, there are adapters that would let you use the smaller tank in a pinch.
Tank Adapter
Road salt? Look at the edges of your driveway or street in the summer.
Dog pee? Brown spots in your yard come from some place. Related - over fertilize to the extent you burn the plants out. Ever drop an open bag of fertilizer in your lawn?
My dad used to use waste motor oil in the pre-Roundup days.
Child labor - let me know how you get this one to work.
For weeds in the sidewalk cracks I just use the electric weed whacker to do it.
Herbicidal Vinegar. Works quite well. I’m not recommending that particular brand, I doubt there is much difference between them. We use it on dandelions. And anything that we want to go away.
Positives for burning out weeds with a propane torch:
- Basic wand and propane are relatively cheap
- No herbicide carryover risk onto adjacent plantings
- Fairly quick and effective
- Satisfaction from seeing noxious weeds wilt and cook before your very eyes (much fun after dark, too)
Negatives:
- Weeds reseed constantly into paths/patios/pavers so you have to keep at it over time. Deep-rooted weeds like dandelions (with tap roots) are only superficially killed the first couple of torchings, but eventually give up the ghost
- Caution is needed if burning near valued plantings, or if wearing sandals (not advisable :eek:)
- Care is needed if conditions are dry or you set fire to dead leaves. You don’t want to destroy the village in order to save it
I don’t use Roundup or Preen for routine weeding - not because of alleged cancer risk (pretty well debunked for Roundup, not an issue for Preen) but because I don’t want to risk spread to ornamental areas, or contaminating a sprayer that then gets used on the garden. There might be secondary environmental issues with some garden herbicides (risk to amphibians?) but in general these chemicals appear relatively safe.
I haven’t seen any discoloration of patio pavers or bricks from the heat.