Re: [gardeners] soap
Terry King (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 09 Mar 1999 21:46:58 -0600
On Tue, 9 Mar 1999 10:55:25 -0600, Martha Brown wrote:
>I do not recommend trying to leach your own lye as it is very caustic and
>can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Besides the soap
was
>a very harsh soap, not what most people would want to use today.
Hi all! Long time since I've stuck my nose in here.
Just a comment about soap. Real soap in the garden shouldn't be a problem
as long as its not so strong it damages the plants.
I make my own soap and have learned that soap made from homemade lye
was often harsh because the strength of the lye was difficult to control.
ALL soap is made from some sort of base, like sodium or potassium
hydroxide, fatty acids and water. Properly made soap does not contain ANY
lye as the molecules reform to make a new chemical--soap.
Safer's soaps as best I can tell are soaps that have been made with
potassium hydroxide (which makes liquid soap, sodium hydroxide makes hard
soaps) and then concentrated somehow.
I'm still waiting here in the frozen north for the snow to melt. A couple of
weeks ago I was sure that spring thaw would be early but it keeps snowing!
I would guess I won't get out into the garden until early April at this rate.
I've managed to hold off on getting seeds started too early. I've had a nasty
case of white flies under my grow lights that I need to figure out how to
eliminate completely. I had to get rid of my 2 year old pepper plants
because of them. Neither Safers or Concern worked completely, even with
frequent spraying.
Terry King North Central Eastern Washington
taeking@televar.com USDA zone 4, Sunset Zone 1