Evil Genius Posted June 30, 2008 A question for the Pesticide Profs! I bought a lot of plants from old growers that werent able to look after their collection no more. Worst case scenario! What pesticides can be in the soil and how long will the soil be contaminated? When i´m repotting, i come in contact with soil and dust! I´d love to wait till any possible pesticides have decayed! How long would that be in case of the nastiest pesticide that was avaible during the last 50 years? Just in the soil! 1 year? 2 years? 20+??? bye Eg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teotzlcoatl Posted June 30, 2008 Just wear some gloves and protective clothing and repot them normally if your worried... Aussy-Land did have some run-ins with bad chemicals back in the day tho, didn't y'all? Are your worried about repotting it or is it an edible plant and your worried about consuming it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted June 30, 2008 Hi Teotz! Most of all, i´m concerned about inhaling contaminated soil! Consumation is not an option as they build up toxins for a long time! But i dont know how about the soil! Most of the time i wear a mask but as these particular FFP2 Dust Masks arent reusable, this is pretty expensive! And its very hard to work with a mask all the time! I look like a Martian and the neigbours start to think i have a secret asbestos lab in my garden! bye Eg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Auxin Posted June 30, 2008 The older cacti would be especially troublesome due to all the degradation resistant halogenated hydrocarbons they used in the old days. Aldrin, heptachlor, DDT, lindane, etc. If I were faced with that I'd try to water cacti before repotting to reduce dust and if the dust masks cost too much maby I'd try to work out a way to use moist peat moss in a respirator cartridge chamber so I could just throw away the contaminated peat moss each time. Inventions like that may depend on what you have on hand, just be sure to test the inventions with lots of safe dust first. Teotz you really have to get used to looking at the location line in peoples stats EG is in germany. All western nations overused them back then tho, ours included (we still export pesticides banned in our own country). If you ever want to examine a influential piece of history read the old book 'Silent Spring'. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted June 30, 2008 (edited) Thanks Auxin! Those were some pretty good Ideas! Well, i decided to make cuttings and throw away the rooted stumps as i want to get my collection clean once and for all. EG is in germany lol! This is the first time that someone hasnt recognized my Schwarzeneggerish Accent. Cool. My Englitsch gedds bedder. Edited June 30, 2008 by Evil Genius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teotzlcoatl Posted June 30, 2008 EG is in germany. Whoops!!! All western nations overused them back then tho I never really knew of any concern about this... How old IS this soil your talking about? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
