The Baking Ingredient That Can Help Kill The Weeds In Your Lawn

With so many gardening and lawn care products on the market, it can be easy to get overwhelmed when you're browsing the aisles of your local garden supply store looking for a natural weed killer. How do you even know any of these products will actually work? Are they really natural? Can you be sure the weed killers won't kill your grass or damage any of your other plants? If this is how you feel when shopping for weed killer, you're in luck because you might have a natural weed killer already hiding in your pantry: cream of tartar.

You may be surprised to learn that most of the ingredients in your kitchen have alternative uses around the house. In fact, there are several common kitchen ingredients you can use to tackle the weeds in your lawn. Cream of tartar isn't just useful for making meringues or snickerdoodle cookies; it is an effective weed killer that won't damage your garden plants or your lawn.

Cream of tartar is also called potassium acid tartrate, a naturally occurring substance found in grapes. It is extracted from grapes during the wine-making process because it crystallizes and is removed to keep the wine clear. It's useful for food-grade leavening and pH control, and as an antimicrobial agent. The natural pH control and antimicrobial properties are part of what make it such an effective addition to your gardening regimen. When you make a solution using pure cream of tartar and water, it can be applied to plants to regulate the pH to levels that do not allow botulinum spores to grow. It also works to balance acidity by neutralizing alkaline activity, which can help control weeds, but it does not change the actual pH value of the soil, so it is perfect for your lawn or vegetable garden.

There are a few ways you can prepare cream of tartar to be used to control weeds naturally with easy-to-make solutions. You can either use it on its own by simply mixing it with water, or combine it with other natural ingredients that you also probably have lying around your kitchen. To make a solution using only cream of tartar and water, you will want to make sure that it fully dissolves into the liquid. To do this, combine 1 tablespoon with 1 gallon of water and mix well. It is best applied to weeds using a spray bottle.