This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

How safe is Preen?

>reply-To: Square Foot Gardening <SQFT@UMSLVMA.UMSL.EDU>
>
>Date:    Thu, 7 Aug 1997 11:57:00 -0400
>From:    "Betz, Richard" <BETZR@BDD.COM>
>Subject: How safe is Preen?
>
>Hi,
>
>My sister used a product called Preen to keep down her weed problem, she
>said that it works great. I was going to consider using it next year in
>my sqft garden and the surrounding areas to help keep the weeds down,
>has anyone used this product and is it safe to use? Also has anyone used
>the product With Out Weeds from Gardens Alive? It is a corn based
>product that they say is safe to use. Any comments are appreciated
>
>Thanks,
>Richard(zone6)
>
>***************************************************************************
>

Hi Richard,
 Just stopping in for the day, email me direct if you need to reach me.

 We have used Preen, WOW, and plain old cornmeal from the grocery store in
ornamental beds. The Preen works great, the WOW works almost as good as the
Preen, and the plain stone ground cornmeal from Foodlion works almost as
good as WOW.
 WOW is (as far as I can remember) merely corn gluten meal. A little bit $$$
for a waste product from corn syrup production! If you can get a hold of an
old Gardens Alive catalogue and compare it with the new ones it would be
good for a laugh. (if my money weren't involved!)

 Costwise, Preen and cornmeal are similar. If you prefer to stay organic,
just hit the grocery store. Apply the cornmeal at the rate of a yellow
mulch, similar to what a car looks like after a week of pine pollen.
 I remember Preen being ok to use in the veggie garden but wouldn't swear to
that. We mulch the veggies heavily with straw, so it's not an issue. Check
with someone else on the list, or make sure you read the package. I think
the active ingredient in Preen was Floran(SP?). Don't know if it's a manmade
chemical or not. It needs to be reapplied every year.

 Don't use any of these products on pachasandra or ajuga in your ornamental
gardens! It works better on them than it does on the weeds.

 All these products will knock your weeding back by about 80 to 90%. Well
worth the time to apply them.

Have fun
Matt Trahan <matttrahan@ecsu.campus.mci.net>
USDA zone 8, Sunset zone 31, northeastern N.C.

***************************************************************************
To unsubscribe, send to: listserv@umslvma.umsl.edu
the body message: unsubscribe sqft
See http://www.umsl.edu/~silvest/garden/sqft.html for archive, FAQ and more.
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index