FOR RELEASE THE WEEK OF APRIL 16, 2000:
I’d like to avoid bleach- and ammonia-based cleaning products and save some serious money while I’m at it. What are some good home-made cleanser "recipes"?
Heather Cataldo, program coordinator for Idaho GEMStars, offers these recipes for alternative cleansers from the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality’s booklet, "Eliminating Household Hazardous Wastes":
Over-the-counter cleansers can be irritants, caustic or flammable, and mixing them can produce hazardous fumes, Cataldo says. Use them sparingly, choose one multi-purpose cleanser over a collection of single-task cleansers, and don’t toss partially full containers into the trash. If you don’t use them all up, give them to someone who will or save them for a local Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off opportunity.
My sister always plants a border of marigolds around her tomatoes. She swears they ward off insects. Should I plant them, too?
Ed Bechinski, University of Idaho extension integrated pest management specialist, says he never discounts gardeners’ observations. However, he and UI nematologist Saad Hafez caution that scientists have only been able to confirm some marigolds’ effects on some nematodes–and not the nematodes most common in Idaho.
"Certain wild types of marigold do exude from their roots a chemical that is lethal to nematodes," Bechinski says. "That is established in the scientific literature. But somehow from that simple finding, people began to believe that marigolds are a general all-purpose plant-pest repellant–and that’s not the case."
Indeed, considering that the world hosts 800,000 species of insects, few general statements can safely be made about pests’ relationships with plants. "To our human noses, marigolds stink, so we sometimes falsely extend our experiences to insects’ experiences: we think the insects will think marigolds stink, too." Instead, University of Idaho research last fall found that convergent lady beetles collected in Idaho actually prefer the scent of marigolds over clean air, while the same species collected from California was repelled by them.
Bechinski encourages gardeners to develop their own at-home research plots to determine which of their biological pest control practices are in fact effectively controlling their pests. You can learn exactly how to do this by reading the 12-page publication "Conduct Your Own Garden Research," written by extension educator Vickie Parker-Clark and Bechinski. Order it from University of Idaho Ag Publications at telephone (208) 885-7982, fax (208) 885-4648, e-mail cking@uidaho.edu, web site http://info.ag.uidaho.edu, or Ag Publications Building, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-2240. Cost to Idaho residents is $2.75, including tax and shipping.
The vitamin pill I take every day meets 100 percent of the recommended daily requirements for most vitamins and minerals but only 16 percent for calcium. Why is that? Should I take a calcium pill as well?
If you prefer getting your calcium from supplements rather than from your diet, then, yes, do add a calcium pill to your daily regimen, along with your multiple vitamin-and-mineral tablet, says Martha Raidl, University of Idaho extension nutrition specialist.
Calcium pills are quite large–which is probably why your vitamin-and-mineral supplement only includes 16 percent of the RDA, says Raidl. In selecting a calcium pill, look for calcium citrate or calcium carbonate, which your body can absorb more readily than other calcium compounds. Vitamin D helps with absorption as well, so a Vitamin D-fortified calcium tablet is an especially good idea.
Raidl cautions against calcium pills with dolomite or bonemeal, both of which can contain lead.
I’ve been told that the herbicide Roundup essentially disappears once it comes in contact with the ground. Is that really what happens?
No, Roundup doesn’t just disappear, says Don Morishita, University of Idaho extension weed scientist. Compared to other pesticides, it is moderately persistent. Its half-life–the amount of time required for half of it to break down–is about 46 days, depending on soil moisture, soil temperature and how many soil microorganisms are available to start breaking it down.
However, even while it persists, Roundup can’t be taken up by emerging plants or weeds. It forms such strong chemical bonds with soil particles that the roots can’t detach it. "That’s why Roundup only works as a foliar spray," Morishita says.
[READERS: Do you have a question about your home, yard or garden? Send it to HomeWise, University of Idaho Ag Communications, Moscow, ID 83844-2332 or e-mail it to homewise@uidaho.edu. Mention of proprietary products or firms does not constitute endorsement by the University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System or imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.]