Testing a root system!
By N2organics
26 Mar, 2011
6 likes
A common question is "what kind of stuff can plants absorb via the root system?"
Food coloring for example! These little babies had some food coloring added to the root system to test the absorption rate of simple chemicals in the growing media. After only one week the normally white blooms looked like this!
Now sit back and think about any toxic chemicals that you might have used to kill weeds , kill bugs, or other things that could be easily absorbed into a plant's root system... Food for thought..
Comments on this photo
I saw some 'almost neon bright' Heathers in a GC recently ... they had all been artificially coloured like these! Awful to think the chemicals were absorbed like that. : o ((
26 Mar, 2011
scary. A couple of years ago I discovered a termite infestation in my dining room wall & the perimeter of the house had to be trenched and loaded with chemicals (I hated it, but I could not afford to lose my house to termites). The pest control guy told me whatever product they used was not absorbed by roots, but I wouldn't let them trench the back of the house where my turtle pens are. I didn't want my turtles ingesting any chemicals while they grazed on grass and weeds. Seeing this photo, I'm glad I refused to let them treat that area.
26 Mar, 2011
That was probably a very wise choice Lauram. :-)
BTW, a very good pest control product is DE (Diatomaceous Earth).. Here's how it works:
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/view_question/id/2263/
I have used it for "chigger control" in Bermuda grass and it works fab! :-)
When we built our new home, I pored a lot of it into the base of the freshly framed walls before the sheet-rock was installed and we have had NO infestations of any bugs in the last 4 years. {grin}
It also has some great trace minerals that are beneficial to the soil in most turf grasses. ;-)
~N2O~
27 Mar, 2011
I use DE for fleas - works great.
27 Mar, 2011
Agree, it's scary how those chemicals are absorbed.
2 Apr, 2011
I'm with you 100%. We use no chemicals in my veggie garden or my flower garden. We are using chicken poo for fertilizer this year, I think it was sheep poo last year.
We have our bee hive that needs to be protected as well...just wish more people would think about what they are using and how it is effecting all of us.
26 Mar, 2011