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View Full Version : My husband poisoned my soil?



DanaInDallas
08-23-2010, 10:41 AM
My hubby found that LOADS of Texas Fire Ants had invaded my raised bed garden. Being the rash wanna-be-helpful guy is he decided to kill the ants by sprinkling a good 3 foot area as well as 1 corner of the wooden base of the bed with a chemical Fire Ant Killer Ahhhhhhhh!!! (He meant well.)
What can I do? My garden is/WAS organic. We've just finished our last cucumber crop and are pulling up everything else now. Is my soil ruined???? How can I get it back to its' Organic state? Clean it?! How???

HELLLLLLLLLLLLP!!!

Dana In Dallas

MoniDew
08-24-2010, 12:20 PM
uh-oh!!

My husband does things like that from time to time. :(
Not everyone understands, in spite of their good intentions.

Perhaps if we knew which chemical it was (the chemical, not necessarily the brand) someone could tell you how long it takes to dissipate from the soil. Perhaps someone here with a chemistry background might have an idea. I know that there is a difference between organic vs synthetic compounds. I hope someone with more knowledge will chime in.

I believe that, for commercially grown organics, 3 years is considered transitional, and up to 7 years to be considered "organic" again. But, it's been a long time since I worked in the industry and the standards may have changed since then.

Meantime, why not have hubby look up organic controls for fire ants, for the next time he wants to help... :o