Preparing to plant your own garden means making sure you have healthy soil for a strong foundation, considering that soil is one of the main contributors of nutrients to plants.
In the r/gardening subreddit thread, a user posted about their concern with planting in a garden bed that their grandpa had previously sprayed with gasoline as a weedkiller.
The user explained that their grandpa would spray weeds with gasoline, leave them for a few days, and then burn up the weeds. This was something he had done for years up until as recently as 2023. The user, now wanting to reuse the garden beds, was concerned about how the gasoline would have impacted the soil.
According to the Soil Science Society of America, gasoline is a refined petroleum product. When soil becomes contaminated with petroleum, it can "harm soil microorganisms," which in turn results in difficulty in seed germination, stunting plant growth, and posing exposure risks to wildlife that may graze on plants and risks to humans if they consume produce grown from the soil.
Soil health is crucial to the success of growing plants and produce. Should the OP decide not to plant in their grandpa's old garden beds, there are other techniques that can provide new, healthy soil for gardens. One technique is the lasagna method, where you layer cardboard, compost, and mulch to create a new garden area.
Additionally, the Reddit post highlights the importance of not using harmful products to control weeds. There are many alternative methods of weed control that don't risk contaminating your soil with toxins. Additionally, rewilding your yard is a method that will eliminate any need to control weeds in the first place.
Users were quick to warn about the impacts of using gasoline for weed control.
"Oh god no. The soil is sickly, possibly dead and contaminated with god only knows what," wrote a user.
"You need to confirm that the soil isn't loaded with heavy metals or solvents or petrochemicals, and you can get your soil test," suggested another user.
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