Author Topic: Soil  (Read 2603 times)

cacran

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Soil
« on: April 29, 2019, 22:00:56 »
I was lead to believe that soil where you had a bonfire, improved the soil. I have now heard the opposite.

Confused!

BarriedaleNick

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Re: Soil
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2019, 08:11:25 »
Well a wood fire produces ash that is a useful source of potassium and many other trace elements - that ash is great for the garden but preferably used sparingly or added to the compost.
However having a large fire can effectively kill a small area of your soil - my soil is solid clay and tends to brick if you have a fire on it. If nothing else you are probably killing worms and lots of other soil organisms - however the soil should recover quickly enough.

I have my fires (and I rarely have one) in an old washing machine drum and then I empty the ash over several beds..
« Last Edit: May 02, 2019, 15:46:58 by BarriedaleNick »
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galina

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Re: Soil
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2019, 09:08:43 »
You need to be very careful what you burn.  Plastic materials can be very toxic indeed.   Wood and plant materials are fine.  A bonfire on the plot in late autumn, then raking the ashes to cover a wide area is a good idea, especially where tomatoes and other potash hungry plants are to be grown the following year.  And I also add to the compost bin at other times.  :wave:

Vinlander

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Re: Soil
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2019, 14:00:35 »
I agree - never burn plastic - this includes painted articles from the 50s onwards, as paint is plastic (paradoxically, lead paint in a fire can be smelted to metallic lead - which is safer than lead paint but you still don't want it, you really don't).

You need to be fussy because apparently a few percent of chlorine in a bonfire can make it produce thousands of times more dioxins than it would have otherwise.

In theory pure polythene contains no chlorine but that's the only exception among the plastics - and I still wouldn't trust it - it may have hidden ingredients.

Cheers.
With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

InfraDig

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Re: Soil
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2019, 10:15:08 »
What nasties would I get from burning old pallet wood?
Thanks

cacran

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Re: Soil
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2019, 10:18:46 »
Thanks for your replies.

 I have to say that I have actually burned everything which includes painted wood and plastics.

I must admit, there are very few worms where I have dug over ground that has been used for fires. I really regret this.

I recently had a CT scan for my lungs. It showed something wrong. Admittedly it is only a tiny mark. The doctor described it as the size of little finger nail.

I asked what could have caused it, as I am a non smoker. He said that at some point, I must have breathed something in.

As soon as he said it, I thought about the last bonfire, I'd had. I breathed in a mouthful of smoke, which actually hurt my chest.

I feel very stupid. Let this be a cautionary tale to others.

Vinlander

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Re: Soil
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2019, 09:49:24 »
What nasties would I get from burning old pallet wood?
Thanks

Pallets are meant to be re-usable but ultimately disposable - this should mean that it's unlikely the wood is treated with preservatives - but without someone who works in the industry to confirm this I'd minimise burning it.

Even partly broken pallets are too precious to waste in a fire anyway, 3 whole ones can be used to make a compost heap or just 2 used to support a builders bag for the same purpose.

The planks are great to make cold frames and fill gaps in raised beds when their longer planks don't quite make it.

Always gift any pallets you don't want to those who do!

Talking generally about burning wood - I'd be very worried  if it has that green tinge that's traditionally called "tanalised"  - Arsenic and/or chromium compounds are still used in industry to make that green tinge, and there are cases where people have died from the smoke or the ash.

When tanalised timber finally starts to rot it can hide the green colour.

Some modern green preservatives (especially the non-professional types) rely on just copper - which is nothing like as volatile as arsenates. I'd say it is safe to use home-use copper preservatives around food crops as long as you don't end up concentrating it in one place.

Copper is a poison in large doses (like everything else) - however unlike most "everything else" it is part of mammalian metabolism and is regarded as an essential mineral supplement in animal farming.

Does anyone know what's in that orange colour they often use on roofing battens? Chromium?

Cheers.

With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

InfraDig

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Re: Soil
« Reply #7 on: May 03, 2019, 08:34:16 »
Thanks very much for the comprehensive reply! I agree. I am a bit of a pallet gatherer and use the wood for all sorts of little projects. It is the pile of broken bits and chipboard blocks that I haven't come up with a use for yet. I had been thinking along the lines of free firewood for anyone that wanted it but was a bit worried about what I may be giving away!
Thanks again.

Vinlander

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Re: Soil
« Reply #8 on: May 03, 2019, 13:36:18 »
I think you should google "can I burn chipboard" - there are different opinions on burning it because of the risk of formaldehyde vapour - I'm assuming nobody is stupid enough to  burn plastic-clad sheets (?)

Normal grades of chipboard are useless in the garden, though I have to admit I've used some for very temporary projects in the knowledge that it will disintegrate to woodchip in a few months and then any plastic coating is released for re-use as eg. anti-root-fly squares around cabbages.

However I'm pretty sure soil bacteria will make short work of formaldehyde if you let it turn into just chip.

While you are online do "can I burn pallets" - in the latter you will find a warning about MB preservatives I wasn't aware of - they are apparently labelled but probably only on whole pallets - the site calls itself "international" but some countries have a weird idea that the world exists within their borders - like a Tardis or maybe Disneyland...

Cheers.

With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

ancellsfarmer

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Re: Soil
« Reply #9 on: May 03, 2019, 20:23:11 »
Pallets used for international trade* are required to be treated against wood boring insects.Many may have been used to transport chemical raw materials of any type. Try not to be seen with a blue pallet, they all belong to CHEP, who could be said to be very possesive of them!! See:
https://www.logisticshandling.com/articles/2014/05/07/why-should-you-be-careful-of-blue-pallets-and-what-are-the-alternatives/
*with a 3rd Country :BangHead:
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

galina

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Re: Soil
« Reply #10 on: May 03, 2019, 20:36:22 »
Cacran, so bad to hear about your lung  scan and the results.  Hope it will be ok in the long run.  I doubt that one lungfull could have done the damage.  These things are cumulative and over time traffic pollution is for most the worst offender.  But thank you for the warning, we have to be careful :wave:

pumkinlover

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Re: Soil
« Reply #11 on: May 04, 2019, 07:51:31 »
Do the doctors recommend any treatment cracan.
Best wishes and than you for the warning.
It is time that we take more responsibility for what we do to the environment, but I know that in the past I have also  used chemicals and burnt stuff because its what everyone did back then.

 

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