Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Thursday - July 07, 2016
From: Houston, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Diseases and Disorders
Title: Possible Herbicide Contamination of Soil
Answered by: Anne Van Nest
QUESTION:
My mother will be 80 this year and lives in Houston, Texas. She has a raised bed garden near her neighbors fence. It has been there for many years. She feels that he uses Roundup for his weeds near a large building on the other side of the fence. How bad is it for her to eat her veggies from her garden now that we know this information? What could we use to flush any toxins out if they are in the soil? Could I move this well-tended raised bed soil to the other side of her yard and feel safe eating the produce?ANSWER:
Sorry for the delay in replying to your question. Regarding your interest in the herbicide Roundup, the Nature World News website just announced that a recent study revealed that 94% of Americans have been exposed to glyphosate (Roundup). Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide used by many gardeners and farmers. For details visit the www.natureworldnews.com website.
Jeff Schuette of Environmental Monitoring & Pest Management, Department of Pesticide Regulation says in an article entitled "Environmental Fate of Glyphosate" Soil: In general, glyphosate is moderately persistent in soil. Soil studies have determined glyphosate half-lives ranging from 3 to 130 days. In the soil environment, glyphosate is resistant to chemical degradation, is stable to sunlight, is relatively nonleachable, and has a low tendency to runoff (except as adsorbed to colloidal matter). It is relatively immobile in most soil environments as a result of its strong adsorption to soil particles."
To find out more information about pesticides in garden soils, visit the National Pesticide Information Center and look at their soil and pesticides page or if you have questions about this, or any pesticide-related topic, please call NPIC at 1-800-858-7378 (8:00am - 12:00pm PST), or email at [email protected]. If you are thinking of testing your soil for pesticides before you move it to another location read the NPIC information about this subject on the "Testing for Pesticides and Pesticide Exposure".
The safest course of action would be to move the raised bed to the other side of the yard and bring in new soil to grow edible fruits and vegetables.
More Diseases and Disorders Questions
Yellowing of fronds on Sago Palm
March 27, 2007 - Our Sago Palm now has all yellow fronds from the Winter frosts.
Should they be cut off? Will the plant grow new fronds from the bottom to replace the ugly looking ones that are there? And why do I se...
view the full question and answer
Keeping dogs and cats out of flower gardens
March 02, 2009 - Do you have any suggestions to keep the cats and dogs out of my flower garden? They either just walk through it, and trample everything, or sleep on the soft blooms and squish everything. I am despe...
view the full question and answer
Transplant rootbound tree now from Kerrville TX
June 10, 2012 - I purchased a Blanco Crabapple tree. Should I plant it now or wait until Fall? (It is currently rootbound.)
Second question: Our Mountain Laurel has a dead trunk and one trunk has already died. I c...
view the full question and answer
Problems with Blackeyed Susans in Philadelphia
May 26, 2009 - For 8 years I successfully grew Black Eyed Susans in a fairly large area in my garden. For the last two years,almost immediately upon pushing through the ground they develop black spots and then appe...
view the full question and answer
Arizona Ash dropping seed pods and waste in Houston
April 08, 2010 - My Arizona Ash tree is dropping seed pods and other waste on my deck and walkway. It has never done this before in the 14 years we have had it. We did get it cut back last winter. Could this be the re...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |