11
votes
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How can I discourage venomous snakes from living in my property?
Snakes generally hang out where they can find food and shelter. To discourage them, you need to remove both incentives. Blocking out the porch is a good first step. You also need to remove any ...
- 7,707
9
votes
Accepted
What is the safest weed killer to use around a toddler?
Your strawberry and veggie patches are almost done for the year where you live, so it seems to me it would be best to tackle them next spring. For now, I would cut down the weeds as close to the ...
- 9,414
8
votes
Accepted
How does the "Ketchup 'n' Fries" plant produce both tomatoes and potatoes? Is it safe?
Grafting is an old technique where two plants are joined.
The idea is to take two varieties with different properties (think: strength) and combine them. For fruit trees, that would be:
a "...
- 15.5k
7
votes
Can I eat carrots with wormholes in them?
Chop the carrots up, just to make sure. They're most likely holes left by larvae of the carrot fly, and they may long have left and turned into flies. Even if you do inadvertently cook one in the soup,...
- 129k
7
votes
Accepted
What are the uptake and decay rates for Spectracide® Weed Stop® for Lawns?
2,4-D: 10 days, up to 333 in wet areas.
2,4-D degrades fairly quickly in soils (half-life about 10 days for acid, salt and ester forms), with microbial degradation considered to be the major route ...
- 51.5k
7
votes
How long do I need to stay off the lawn after applying weed killer?
Read the label of the product you are using. The label will state a re-entry interval. Without the label we don't know what is in the specific spray you are using, so we can't give a proper answer.
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6
votes
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How long do I need to stay off the lawn after applying weed killer?
The MSDS lists three active ingredients, and another product, Bonide BK-32 has the same formulation (active ingredients and proportions).
Bonide BK-32's instruction booklet includes the following ...
- 388
6
votes
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Can you eat lettuce that your dog pees on
Urine from healthy dogs (and humans) is sterile on leaving the body. It can, however, encourage the growth of existing bacteria: so these you would have been exposed to anyway.
Faeces are not sterile ...
- 2,235
6
votes
Is it safe to eat veggies grown in soil that has soured?
Yes, your peppers will be safe to eat. the only chance of contamination is if soil from your planter splashes onto the fruit, but they can be washed, and soured soil isn't much higher in human ...
- 51.5k
5
votes
Is it safe to grow vegetables in a container made of stained wood pallets?
If your concerned about how chemicals might leach into the soil over time you may want to take this to the chemistry stack exchange.
I'll just say that unless I'm talking to someone who truly ...
- 208
5
votes
What is the best way to channel an electricity cable under the lawn?
Depending where you are, you often have a minimum burial depth, which in my area depends on how you protect the cable. Pouring concrete around/over it reduces the depth it needs to be buried to.
As ...
- 18.2k
5
votes
Accepted
How close should a maple tree sapling be to marked utilities?
Trouble now or trouble later would sum up the answer.
Dig the tree up and set back it's growth by a few years or take your chances that there will be substantial root damage later if the lines have ...
- 56k
5
votes
How can I discourage venomous snakes from living in my property?
We get copperheads here in central NC. To discourage them, I do not allow wood or brush piles to accumulate on the property. I use a mulching mower to munch up fallen leaves in the woods where people ...
- 1,529
5
votes
What happens when a chainsaw chain meets a nail or piece of steel wire when cutting through wood?
Have you tried? Basically a good, sharp chainsaw will pretty much chew through nails and wire embedded in timber.
That doesn't mean you want to do it!
You want to ensure your saw avoids contact - ...
- 9,443
5
votes
Is Plant Still Safe to Eat If Mysterious Mushroom Grew in the Same Planter?
It's Parasola plicatilis, previously known as Coprinus, common name pleated inkcap. These are delicate mushrooms with a short lifespan of 24-72 hours - nothing much to worry about, they are saprobic, ...
- 129k
4
votes
Accepted
Does Pachysandra cause algae to grow on the concrete foundation of my house?
The algae is there because of the dim lighting and moisture. It will not harm the concrete. In some cases, it provides an area for moss to spawn, which can hold in moisture, but in most cases, it's ...
- 51.5k
4
votes
What are the uptake and decay rates for Spectracide® Weed Stop® for Lawns?
Having checked the question on Pets.SE, you seem to want to know when it will be safe for rabbits to graze the treated area. As with all liquid lawn weedkillers, once the spray or solution has dried, ...
- 129k
4
votes
How can I safely keep snakes away from the compost in a community garden?
I don't think there's anything that can be added to the heap to deter snakes, and whether the snake that's been seen is harmless or not, others which are possibly harmful may be attracted too, for the ...
- 129k
4
votes
Drinking Water Safe hose reel - what to look for?
It's a miracle so many of us survived childhood. I drank from hoses all the time, and I've lived to tell the story. Even so, it's not a safe practice.
As you know, there are several "drinking ...
- 41
4
votes
Concerns with breathing in fine particles from soil
It is not harmful to get some 'dust' in your lungs, sporadically. Your lungs will remove it via mucus, like you have noticed.
It becomes dangerous, when it becomes chronic instead of sporadic. So ...
- 12.8k
4
votes
Accepted
Huge Ammonia in compost danger?
Composting is an aerobic process. In a sealed container you will get anaerobic decomposition, which usually produces a horrible-smelling slimy mess, not what is normally described as "compost&...
- 11.2k
3
votes
What happens when a chainsaw chain meets a nail or piece of steel wire when cutting through wood?
To add on to what Tea Drinker says, which is what happens on contact with metal, I don't ever use a chainsaw without wearing goggles, a helmet with mesh visor, protective chaps, heavy-duty gloves (...
- 51.5k
3
votes
How to safely remove poison ivy
I own property with a lot of poison ivy, I first discovered it by triming brush and found myself standing in a field of it. I have been using tecnu for many years and have not gotten the poison ivy ...
- 31
3
votes
How to safely use Baby Bio house plant insecticide spray?
This is white fly. Instead of spraying I'd use a dip. NEEM is pretty much similar to your Baby Bio? Use a paper plate slit once from edge to center, place on the top of this pot. Mix NEEM as ...
- 39.8k
3
votes
Are my hoses safe?
when I first turn it on in order to water my plants and such, the water seems fizzy or foamy for about twenty seconds each time (well, once a day or so).
Nothing to get excited about. Dissolved gases ...
- 18.2k
3
votes
Accepted
Is Plant Still Safe to Eat If Mysterious Mushroom Grew in the Same Planter?
Could be a Mycena, Amanita, maybe others, I'm not an expert so I'd need to have a closer examination and a spore deposit to give you a real ID on the mushrooms. The mycelium is in the mix digesting ...
- 51.5k
3
votes
Accepted
Is this poison sumac?
That absolutely is not sumac or poison ivy. It's got a dogwood looking leaf on it. Look above this plant and see what type tree is growing over it. It's possibly some type tree seedling.
- 161
3
votes
Concerns with breathing in fine particles from soil
If working with organic soil mixes that include compost you need to work outside preferably with any wind blowing the contents away from you. If working inside you need to wear an approved ...
- 22.9k
3
votes
Accepted
Can the bacteria in compost bin be dangerous for kids?
There are bacteria in compost heaps; but bacteria are everywhere, including within and on our bodies. In fact, bacteria in a human being outnumber human cells by 10 to 1, but we need the bacteria to ...
- 129k
2
votes
Is it safe to use vegetables which have experienced several frosts?
In addition to finding this question when looking into this, I came across an article from the University of Illinois Extension, which had some relevant information:
Probably the concern over eating ...
- 121
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