Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Apr 15, 2010 10:36 am I have been renovating my house/garden, and recently noticed that the soil in my garden has a cotton-like substance throughout. Not sure what it is. I have googled but most of what I have described, is located on the plant and is the mealy bug but mine is not on the plant but rather in the soil. Does anyone know what it is? And if so, how can it be treated? Confused Renovator Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 2Apr 15, 2010 11:15 am Don't treat it It's a fungus. Click the healthy soil link in my sig We all must move away from the 80 years of brainwashing that if something we don't recognise in the garden is seen, kill it. It will be doing a wonderful job and ultimately makes nutrients in an available form to the plants quite naturally (and we can't have that now can we ) I will also give you the tip in view of a man who died using garden chemicals. Many commonly sold and recommended fungicides are banned from sale in most countries of the world. Not only dot hey do incredible harm to the entire soil ecology (something absolutely essential if you want a truly low maintenance garden) they cause cancer as well. Something that has been made aware to government authorities for nearly 20 years! And still they are allowed to be sold in Australia and still Horticulturists and garden centres sell them oblivious or not to the serious dangers of these products. What do you do DamNita? Nothing leave it It is harmless Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 3Apr 15, 2010 11:31 am Thank you Fu Manchu. So the only thing I will be doing is adding more soil to the existing garden - as I have expanded the area and let nature do its thing! On a side note, my dad was diagnosed with Leukeamia a couple of weeks ago. My mother, in desperation for answers, asked the heamatologist what could have caused it. The only answer we received was pesticides and the like were possibly linked. Confused Renovator Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 4Apr 15, 2010 12:04 pm Quote: Fu Manchu I will also give you the tip in view of a man who died using garden chemicals. Many commonly sold and recommended fungicides are banned from sale in most countries of the world. Not only dot hey do incredible harm to the entire soil ecology (something absolutely essential if you want a truly low maintenance garden) they cause cancer as well. Something that has been made aware to government authorities for nearly 20 years! And still they are allowed to be sold in Australia and still Horticulturists and garden centres sell them oblivious or not to the serious dangers of these products. [/quote Which chemicals are we talking about here Fu? Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 5Apr 15, 2010 12:21 pm To name one, Mancozeb. I myself have suggested using it from time to time but only in cases where immediate control of turf fungal disease is required. I hate using it and overall I am more and more reluctant to do so. Better overall care of domestic turf is absolutely essential and that is a whole other story Malathion, dimethoate, omethoate, Pyrethrum, Pyrethroids (most), Imidacloprid, Kelthane, Chlorpyrifos ... Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 6Apr 15, 2010 12:41 pm I did a bit of googling other than Mancozeb and pyrethrum which are readily avaliable, which buy at the local hardware/plant store products contain the nasty chems you speak of? Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 7Apr 15, 2010 9:30 pm Carbryl is the other one. Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 8Apr 15, 2010 10:02 pm Pyrethrum is a natural product Oh rainbows and lollypops So is 1080 that is used through WA to bait foxes and feral cats. They come from the Gastrolobiums and one leaf from one of those can drop a sheep. So just because it comes from a plant doesn't make it safe nor does it mean it doesn't harm other things. You will see the words Natural used on most pyrethrum sprays. They play a large part in the declining world bee populations. It is considered to be carcinogenic and it is for that reason you will never see any Pyrethrum products certified organic even though they are natural The cousins are nasty too. They are the ones we use as ant killers, Fenthion, Permetherin, are common ones and are often also the ingredients of the fly sprays we use and those timer operated sprays we stick on a wall and breath in all day Mancozeb was recognised too be nasty nearly 25 years ago and is not for sale in many countries and has been that way for nearly that length of time. This is something Grahame Ross was talking about the other week here in Perth and good on him . You guys need to know this stuff. Our politicians have been made aware of this issue for a very loooong time. They don't understand it so who knows Do I name products? well that becomes difficult because to do that and remain fair I would need to name all I guess and many are sold with different shelf names. In the end the details of what is in those very common sprays are listed in small type as Active constituents. Jot some of the ones I have mentioned down and go to even your local supermarket and look at the garden isle and see what is sitting right next to the nappies or something. Look at the small print under the big brand name. One common (and thankfully not so common now) systemic insecticide was Malithion which from memory was so close to being a human nerve agent it wasn't funny. It is said it just needs the addition of one carbon atom and it will affect humans. One carbon atom! That is crazy! (Chemistry types may be able to clarify that) Yet it was sold for a very long time in Australia. I sometimes wonder if we are the dumping ground for what is banned in most places in the world Many common insecticides are very closely related to Sarin gas and I mean closely. Lawn beetle treatments commonly have the nasty cancer causing "Chlorpyrifos". Now don't we get obsessed with lawn beetle and absolutely believe that is why the lawn is dieing and why we must kill them! What with? "Well this stuff with a lawn beetle picture on it will do the job". So there we have unconceivable quantities of this stuff being evenly distributed across our entire urban area. Does diddly squat for fixing the problem of beetle. If it did then why do we still have them? Yet this Chlorpyrifos is being applied and ultimately poisoning our water ways. Again WA shows some excellent examples of this. After heavy rains after nearly 5 months of no rain and we have areas of the Swan and canning rivers that are no go zones! fertilisers and pesticides spread by unwitting consumers They'll still have beetles next year and they aren't even what the cause of dead patches are There is one spray that is in a green bottle that causes blindness or eye problems. yet the Government says it's safe? It is also a major contributor to the declining bee populations. Aphid sprays, scale sprays, rose care products Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 9Apr 15, 2010 10:39 pm I should add that, at this point, the products sold with these things in them are considered "safe" according to the government and therefore allowed to be sold. However "good for us" is arguable and the subject of much debate throughout the world let alone Australia. Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 10Apr 16, 2010 12:26 am This relates to world bee populations and the effects of pesticides http://www.soilassociation.org/Whyorgan ... fault.aspx What we buy here as Confidor (which contains one of the mention pesticides) to kill aphids on roses or treat hopelessly lawn beetle or hopelessly treat scale (which it can't do but is commonly recommended for it) or apply to our citrus plants to treat citrus leaf miner (which ironically needs bees to produce the fruit) has been banned in France since the late nineties. Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 11Apr 16, 2010 2:53 pm Thanks Fu i didn't mean for you to name actual products more so if its used in a slug and snail killer etc etc. I am aware of confidor and the ilk causes problems o/s. It seems a lot of studies are inconclusive of the cancer causing properties of a lot of these chems but the fact it is "inconclusive" is not ideal at all. I stopped using confidor on some roses i had when i noticed i didn't have one living thing hanging around the flowers. I am quite interested in how sydney bot gardens are growing their roses chemical free but thats another thread... Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 12Apr 17, 2010 1:41 am Easy as. Very easy There are loads of ways. Better soil health and care, reduced fertiliser use, good pruning (although there is much to be said for bad rose pruning ) using soapy water to control aphids. Full cream milk 9:1 for controlling black spot or if you don't want to waste good milk, use "Eco rose" which controls many common fungal problems like powdery mildew and blackspot. certified organic They will be mulching using mulched rose prunnings, straws, or green tree mulches. Less fertilisers means thicker cell walls which ultimately makes for a tougher job for the sap feeding thrip or aphids to get their proboscis into the plant to tap into the sap flow and feed. Any aphids and thrip make excellent meals for the now more abundant natural predators Common pesticides wipe out more helpful insects than the bad ones and guess who shows up first in town after that, yep it is the bad guys. So stop using them and restore the balance If you need a little help visit these guys http://www.goodbugs.org.au/ Highly effective and something more and more nurseries and orchidists are using. Better results and less risk I can always tell when someone has used tomato dust or aphid sprays or scale sprays nearby by the sight of the poor bees dieing in my garden They go all still or wander aimlessly as their poor nervous systems go wrong Sometimes they are just kicking on their backs Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 13Apr 17, 2010 2:20 am Fu Manchu One common (and thankfully not so common now) systemic insecticide was Malithion which from memory was so close to being a human nerve agent it wasn't funny. It is said it just needs the addition of one carbon atom and it will affect humans. One carbon atom! That is crazy! (Chemistry types may be able to clarify that) Yet it was sold for a very long time in Australia. I sometimes wonder if we are the dumping ground for what is banned in most places in the world I think it's a bit alarmist to say things like this as so many compounds we use in everyday things can be close to a poison. Saccharin, which is used as an artificial sweetner, is a derivative of benzene which is a known cancer causing compound. As far as I'm aware, it is used in Australia as it does not pose a risk to public health (and yes, I understand there is an issue with artificial sweeteners in general). It's like saying that humans can become mice as we share 80% of their genes. Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 14Apr 17, 2010 2:52 am Well yes I guess that could be viewed like that however it is a serious problem and one that warrants the importance. The human population is so large it can take a hit (if that can be said without being horrible ) . The environmental consequences of the use of many common garden products is of a serious nature. It is something discussed by many well known Horticulturists and that is being done more and more openly. It is also being talked about in universities around the world and world horticulture also. I was at a talk by well known Hort, Graham Ross who outlined his concerns with many of the things I have also mentioned. He has written to government ministers for many years to alert them of the dangers of these products and the effects they can have on us and beneficial insects like bees. Declining bee populations are a worry and these started mostly with the appearance of a certain family of pesticides in commercial agriculture and then domestic gardening. WA had 175 bee keepers 20 years ago. We now have 25 (was talking with a bee keeper and his concerns with the same issue) we need bees to create our food. Some side effects of common garden chemicals can be organ damage and with the death of a chap in over east it does highlight the dangers. It is yet to be concluded if the chemicals he was spraying were the cause of his death. He was possibly in a weakened state and was experienced with spraying. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/n ... 5853834599 The scale of the issue is big. Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 15Apr 17, 2010 10:31 am The whole bee thing is very concerning to me thats why i stopped all systemic chems in my yard. If the bees go then we are in real trouble, even main stream media like 60 minutes touched on the issue a while back. Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 16Apr 17, 2010 12:47 pm We have a rapidly declining bee population affected by common pesticides and fungicides. The current rate of decline is a concern and has no improvement in sight as long as agriculture and domestic gardeners continue to buy these things. It is said the entire human population will survive 3 years after bees die out. These products also have an effect on spider populations. As they feed on contaminated insects. 28 species of birds around Perth rely on spider webs to build their nests. They too are effected by eating contaminated insects Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 17Apr 29, 2010 12:59 am I understand the issue of the declining bee population and it is one of those things that is quite alarming but no-one really seems to give a toss about it. Although after having hives at my place, I think they all decided to swarm my place for a holiday Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 18Apr 29, 2010 1:06 am That's because it won't be till we poison the last river, cut down the last tree etc that we will finally understand the importance of what is around us. Re: White cotton-like substance in soil - not on plant 19Apr 29, 2010 1:44 am Oh I see it all the time! Money makes the world go round and those in power don't care cos they won't be here in 10-20 years and a lot of people my age are too lazy to really care. No the fireplace doesn’t work. It’s been enclosed. I’m not sure what was removed, as it was done quite some time ago - well before what I can see with photos online… 2 11584 0 4703 I am not sure whether Perth has its own way of doing things in regards to this. Most of Perth has class A (sandy soil), except for some areas near rivers or hills. 2 13098 |