RE: CULT: boron toxicity - ant bait question...

Linda,

There does seem to be a lot of information about boron toxicity and
plants out there, but nothing really specific to iris. Different plants
have different levels which are toxic to them, just to make things more
complicated and that does not lend to making a sweeping statement
concerning plants as a whole. Just to add to the confusion, it appears
that boron can be a remedy for other elemental toxicities that may be
present in the soil.

Can you tell when you plants are experiencing boron toxicity? Sure you
can, but how they will react is another story. It seems that the
manifestation of symptoms varies with the plant, and there is no
consistent symptom across all plants.. I'm sure you can have a lot of
fun trying to figure that one out. One thing that I did notice in
various photos is that leaf coloration may be a symptom, but it would
not be a consistent color. In some, the leaves gradually yellow, in
others they seem to turn read in portions of the leaf, and so on.

What you do is entirely up to you, but a judicious move may be to get
new potting mix and use that for anything you have high hopes for, and
use the old for those seedlings that may not really work out or appear
to be weak in the "clean" mix. This second may help the weak ones due to
the apparent cleansing ability of boron mentioned above.


\\Steve//


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-iris@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of
Linda Mann
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 1:58 PM
To: iris@hort.net
Subject: [iris] CULT: boron toxicity - ant bait question...

This is another off the wall question - I've had huge infestations of
ants this year in potting soil, between pots in stacks of empty pots, in

pots containing plants.

Much as I hate to do it, I finally got tired of being swarmed by ants
every time I tried to work in the irises - last straw was when my main
supply of potting soil became the center of ant civilization here.

So I put several of the outdoor Terro boric acid ant bait stations out
and that seems to have made enough of a dent in the populations that I
can finish fall potting.

My question is this - I assume that the boron from the bait is now mixed

in with the itty bitty dead ants and larvae in the potting soil.

Anybody have a clue whether that's enough boron to be toxic to plants?

I rummaged around on the web but couldn't find any relevant info.  Maybe

not creative enough with key words.
--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.DiscoverET.org/etis>
Region 7, Kentucky-Tennessee <http://www.aisregion7.org>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
photos archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/>
online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>

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