By Angie on Sunday, July 09, 2000 - 07:50 pm: |
Folks, I just received an e-mail from a lady in Kentucky. A few days ago, the electric company sprayed her property with Arsenal and Accord, two herbicides. Pam has been gardening organically, and in the area of the spraying were herbs and many fruit and nut trees.
She's frantically trying to figure out what, if anything, she can do. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
By Angie on Sunday, July 09, 2000 - 08:16 pm: |
My first suggestion is to immediately apply activated charcoal to the most important plants, or to ones that don't appear to be affected yet by the herbicide. (Keep all your receipts. . . I would expect reimbursement from the electric company responsible for the spraying).
According to http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~robsond/solutions/horticulture/docs/actchar.html it is available at "water conditioning companies." I have also found reference that it might be available at pet stores, but I'd be surprised if you can cost-effectively get large quantities there.
By Dorothy on Monday, July 10, 2000 - 02:46 pm: |
Pam, I am so sorry to hear of your misfortune. According to my ancient copy of Rodale's Organic Plant Protection, activated charcoal mixed in with the soil will help to purge the chemicals. Just mix the activated charcoal directly with the soil. The application rate depends on the pesticide to be removed. A general rate is 300 lbs per acre. Apparently the cheapest source will be a chemical supply company. Good Luck!