I love hearing from readers with gardening questions as well as those offering advice. I receive about a dozen questions a week via email and another one or two per week through the U.S. Postal System. One of the most wonderful things about gardeners is their ability to share constructive ideas and advice, and their willingness to seek appropriate answers to even the most vexing question.
I try my best to address every question I receive, though it may take me a few months to do it! I keep each and every letter and email I receive, and do my best to select timely topics during the appropriate season. I get some really fascinating questions, and I greatly enjoy researching and learning about some of the more unusual topics. Many of the letters I get are concerning similar topics, and I can often address multiple inquiries in a single column. I love it when that happens.
To that note, a number of inquiries and suggestions have come in over the past year regarding using household products like ammonia, salt, shampoo, bleach, soap and others to control weeds and/or insects in the landscape or to fertilize plants. This practice was popularized about 50 years ago by a master gardener who began to promote the use of cleaners and other household items in the landscape under the guise of turning “back to the basics.�
Unfortunately, many of these “basics� are synthesized in a laboratory and are not, in fact, natural solutions. Using many of these “basics� essentially means using one chemical to replace another. Most household cleaners are full of chemicals that have no place in a healthy garden.
Another issue I have with this is that the household products often recommended for use in the garden have not been researched for their safety and effectiveness under such circumstances. They are not approved by the EPA and other certifying agencies for use in the garden. (I know what you are going to say: “I’ve been doing this for years and I have never had any problems.â€� And that may be true, but just because you haven’t had a problem yet, doesn’t mean you won’t. And some of the problems these products cause are not necessarily observable — unless you’ve got a microscope.)
Bleach and ammonia can and do kill earthworms and scores of other beneficial soil organisms and benign insects, not to mention the fact that they can burn skin and eyes and cause respiratory distress. The salt and vinegar that many folks use to kill weeds also kills these soil-dwelling organisms as it washes down through the soil. Many household products also can adversely effect the soil pH. Even a slight alteration in this critical measurement can readily affect how, and even if, certain nutrients are available to feed your plants.
Many household products also remain in the soil and on plant tissue for many days or weeks after use. Some do not dissipate or breakdown for a very long time, if ever. Bleach, for example, is made of several highly reactive ingredients that when mixed with other products can produce toxic gasses. Even soap (in all its forms) can prove detrimental to the garden. It can coat foliage and breakdown plant-cell walls if overused, and it can kill beneficial insects as quickly as it kills pest species.
In my opinion, avoid using all household products in the garden, and instead, turn to natural, non-chemical product solutions and fertilizers formulated and reviewed specifically for use in the landscape. If you aren’t sure if something is safe for your organic garden, look for the OMRI (Organic Material Review Institute) seal of approval on the label. Or, drop me a line and I’ll do my best to answer your question in a future column.
Horticulturist Jessica Walliser co-hosts “The Organic Gardeners� at 7 a.m. Sundays on KDKA Radio. She is the author of several gardening books, including “Grow Organic� and “Good Bug, Bad Bug.� Her website is www.jessicawalliser.com.
Send your gardening or landscaping questions to tribliving@tribweb.com or The Good Earth, 503 Martindale St., 3rd Floor, D.L. Clark Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15212.
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