how much borax will kill a plant

Jul 08, 2012 4 Replies
J

I recently began making my own laundry soap with borax and washing soda, both of which can harm plants and the soil. we use the water to irrigate our tomato and cantelope plants. I was really excited to make my own soap and will be very discouraged if I'm harming our land and plants. Any suggestions?


Vote
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn
H

Hmm... I always thought of borax as a fertilizer and in fact it's used in construction materials, such as cellulose insulation, to prevent mold grows, so it's a fungicide, not a herbicide.  If you were wondering why your tomatoes were especially resistant to the tomato blight, now you know the reason :)  Seriously though, I don't know exactly what happens to the sodium borate or the soda in the process of making soap, and  how diluted they are in the water you use for irrigation. I would think that you're probably raising the soil pH by dumping alkalines  like borax and washing soda in it but I don't believe  borax or washing soda are generally harmful to the plants and I don't believe either can stay in the soil for long being easily dissolved in water and washed further down.

Vote
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn
A

Thanks for replying! I've had two different opinions presented to me.. 

formatting link
 which says it's harmful and to avoid borax

 and then there's this lady which I tend to believe because I have a biased toward homesteaders and not some organization who generally have no personal experience..

formatting link

I guess expiernce always proves to be the best teacher! It makes sense that it would be diluted a lot, I just don't want a number of years to go by and I'm still using my homemade soap (which I LOVE) and it be hurting the plants.. 

Vote
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required