Dumping starsan or pbw on plants?
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Beernik
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Starsan is a citric acid. I wouldn't dump it on a plant I valued.
Just give em water.
It all depends on quantities and how it dilutes and disperses once in the ground. During the raining season the dilution will take care of potentially local high concentrations. During dry spells, that's all your roots are going to get. It may be poisonous to them.
Starsan working solution is acidic. Phosphoric acid with some other stuff in it, something that breaks the surface tension, like soap. Probably OK.
Used PBW is sodium carbonate and sodium metasilicate, it is alkaline. It may break down, but many trees and shrubs don't like alkaline soil.
Starsan working solution is acidic. Phosphoric acid with some other stuff in it, something that breaks the surface tension, like soap. Probably OK.
Used PBW is sodium carbonate and sodium metasilicate, it is alkaline. It may break down, but many trees and shrubs don't like alkaline soil.
The creator of PBW was on The Brewing Network. He said it was good for your plants and for your sewer system because it broke down into nutrients of some kind. Ever since I heard that I've been dumping it in my yard just because that is what's closest to my brew area and hauling it to the sink was a PITA. It has neither made a green spot or a brown spot. Seems do do nothing at all. I always dump it in the same place too, so if the effects were cumulative they would have showed up by now. At least 50 pours of ~2 gallons on the same section of grass with no effect that I can see. I can't see it hurting a tree if it doesn't even hurt my grass.
Besides that, have you ever tried to kill a tree? Darned difficult most of the time. I had a silver maple coming up too close to the house. The previous owners just let it grow, I guess they didn't know how big it would get. I cut it down and the thing tried to grow back from the stump. So I dowsed the stump with roundup and it still came back. I had to drill holes 6 inches down into the stump and pour a special stump killer into it to kill it.
Besides that, have you ever tried to kill a tree? Darned difficult most of the time. I had a silver maple coming up too close to the house. The previous owners just let it grow, I guess they didn't know how big it would get. I cut it down and the thing tried to grow back from the stump. So I dowsed the stump with roundup and it still came back. I had to drill holes 6 inches down into the stump and pour a special stump killer into it to kill it.
Starsan is phosphorous based, where I live that's an essential nutrient for flowering plants like HOPS. I usually just pour my PBW on my driveway and let the water evaporate.
But Setesh, if you think it's hard to kill a tree come to Carlsbad, we fight to keep them alive.
But Setesh, if you think it's hard to kill a tree come to Carlsbad, we fight to keep them alive.
I wonder if it's because our water table is so high?
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