Role of surfacants in soil...i.e. dr. bronners liquid soap

[GrimloxK]

I just wanted someone to school me on using liquid soap like dr. bronners hemp soap as a surfacant.

I've heard it helps the water become more available in soil and as a wetting agent in foliar feeding.

Does anyone do something like this and if so how much should I use per gallon of water?

 

[motherlode]

just a few drops of dish soap per gal works as a wetting agent/surfacant

should be the same for the hemp soap

 

[ShutUpDonny]

I understand the idea behind surfactants, and I'm sure that they do a great job with foliar feeding. As far as soil is concerned, though, won't they weaken or kill the microherd? I dig that hemp soap, glycerin soap, etc. are broadly biodegradable, but I wouldn't want to eat even the benign soaps, so why would I want to smoke them (if I smoked, that is...)? Plus, how quickly do they actually decompose?

This link contains a fairly informative article on the subject, and contains a recipe for a wetting agent made from agar agar (or agar, as some people East of the Pacific refer to it) algae paste. Now I'm not necessarily saying that I find agar any more appetizing than dishsoap, but lots of people choose to eat it whereas they probably wouldn't eat soap. And seeing as how it is used in laboratories to actually house microorganisms, I'd feel a lot better about it being in my soil and potentially my smoke. And while it may not be gotten quite as easily as dishsoap, it is certainly sold for both cooking and scientific pursuits so it wouldn't be THAT hard to come by...

Just putting it out there.

 

[GanjaGardener]

Agar, the stuff that goes in petri dishes. FFO! I used it as a kid in a science project. Might be possible to use it to culture unique organisms, as well. Using it as a wetting agent/spreader is quite an interesting idea, I'd say. Where dat link?

 

[phenotyper]

Dr. bronners will likely kill (some of) the microherd. If you want to keep em happy, use some yucca or aloe vera. Strictly hydrophobic wetting agents are probably what you want to stay away from (sm90).

 

[MakinGoo]

Intresting thread.. It never crossed my mind that I mite b killing my bennies when I use a drop or 2 of dish soap in the mix.. I might need 2 go back 2 Wet Betty..

 

[phenotyper]

Intresting thread.. It never crossed my mind that I mite b killing my bennies when I use a drop or 2 of dish soap in the mix.. I might need 2 go back 2 Wet Betty..

MG, Wet Betty is insanely expensive for what it is, 31 for a Liter. It contains:

Potassium Sulfate
Saponins
Yucca

You can get both saponins(wetting properties) and some great trace minerals and vitamins from aloe vera. Add a drop or two of Protekt silica (not an exact relica, they use a sulfate for trace sulfur I guess, but good for emulsification), and you have a nearly identical clone of WB for insanely cheap.

1 Gallon - Lily Of The Desert Aloe Vera Juice = ~$20 shipped
1 quart Protekt Silica - ~$10

The aloe vera juice will be the limiting reagent. Mixing these up will make 120 GALLONS of wetting agent. 1oz per gallon of AV juice, .5 ML/gallon protekt silica.

Food for thought.

 

[GanjaGardener]

I use yucca extract. I wouldn't think that a couple of drops of straight "castile" liquid soap, ie Ivory, (w/o antibacterials) would cause that much damage but I know that yucca which, interestingly enough, was used by the Chumash and other early Ntv. Ams. to, among other things, make soap; is safe and beneficial.

 

[MakinGoo]

MG, Wet Betty is insanely expensive for what it is, 31 for a Liter. It contains:

Potassium Sulfate
Saponins
Yucca

You can get both saponins(wetting properties) and some great trace minerals and vitamins from aloe vera. Add a drop or two of Protekt silica (not an exact relica, they use a sulfate for trace sulfur I guess, but good for emulsification), and you have a nearly identical clone of WB for insanely cheap.

1 Gallon - Lily Of The Desert Aloe Vera Juice = ~$20 shipped
1 quart Protekt Silica - ~$10

The aloe vera juice will be the limiting reagent. Mixing these up will make 120 GALLONS of wetting agent. 1oz per gallon of AV juice, .5 ML/gallon protekt silica.

Food for thought.

Thanks I'll look in2 that Aleo Vera juice i use Silica blast it's $12 I'm liking the $10 one ur talking about great info

 

[GanjaGardener]

Aloe V is good stuff too. No need to overpay for wetting agents. Can be grown practically anywhere in the world in a container. In cold winter climates, a window sill will do.

 

[MakinGoo]

My mom gots that in her backyard she would put some on r small cuts & scrapes even burns.. How do u use it in the plant food mix? Juss add some drops or what?

 

[GanjaGardener]

My mom gots that in her backyard she would put some on r small cuts & scrapes even burns.. How do u use it in the plant food mix? Juss add some drops or what?

Cut leaves at base or pull the old leaves from bottom. Cut and/or rip some skin off, squeeze, ring, drop into warm ie upper 70's/ low 80s, bubble for a day, squeeze again, strain through screen, add foliar or drench nutes and apply.

PS I have a large supply and use 10 med-20 small blades / 4 gal ROd water once in awhile for a change of pace from yucca.

 

[MakinGoo]

Kool I'll try that great post

 

[GrimloxK]

Damn it's a good thing I didn't add any Bronners to my soil feeding and just kept it foliar.

I'm using the roots organics nutes which convienently contain aloe, yucca and soapbark extract.

i'll probably use the bronners with neptunes harvest seaweed and bioag ful-humix.

 

[ShutUpDonny]

Sorry GG - the link is actually the word "link." It's highlighted in green, which doesn't stand out as much as I thought it would.

Anyway, to save time it's:


Hey, are those mini-banana lookin' things the aloe's flowers?! I''ve never seen that in my life. Super cool! Looks vaguely like banana yucca, oddly enough : D

 

[GanjaGardener]

Hey, are those mini-banana lookin' things the aloe's flowers?! I''ve never seen that in my life. Super cool! Looks vaguely like banana yucca, oddly enough : D

Aloe vera are easy to pick out because of their distinct, canary-gold flowers. They also multiply less aggressively and are more diminutive than some of the other aloes. This is an aloe arborescens hybrid, (Johnson's, I think) that will grow to the size of a small tree if the pups are harvested away from the base and the meristem.

arborescens (fire red flower) has many of the same properties as aloe vera and I use it interchangeably.

In my buffered climate, we get two flowerings from aloes, and spring bulbs ie narcissus. The fall and spring temps are the same and the "spring" photoperiod sets them off a second time in the fall.

Here's a PDF I uploaded to a folder on my non-commercial, "admin" "site":



You can also find it by googling "aloe book". I'll keep the link up on my "site" for a day.


​

 

[ShutUpDonny]

Wow! Those are beautiful! I feel like someone's been holding out on me for my whole life, never having seen those before. Thank you for correcting my ignorance, and for sharing the link. Can't wait to wade into all that great info!

 

[TheIronLung317]

Can any one post any valid information why dr bronners will be harmful or counter beneficial to your plants during a foliar spray? I know many reputable growers including Ed Rosenthal recommend using this as a wetting agent in publications like Marijuana Garden Saver. I don't thinks its harmful what so ever. I have used it when spraying neem oil on my plants. On foliar feeding my plants and have gotten nothing but great results. I also foliar feed with it and add Roots Organics Oregonisms XL with Dr Bronners as a foliar feed to introduce Bennies directly to the plant.

 

[phenotyper]

IronLung, we're talking about a soil drench, not foliar.

 

[motherlode]

I used ivory dish soap for almost 10 years as a wetting agent in soil with no issues

I gave up using dirt indoors about that long ago as well

Ivory used to be 99.9% pure soap - not sure if it still is

most other dish soaps have chemicals that break down grease or antibacterial

wouldnt use any of that as a wetting agent