Nasty, real nasty pond water is good!

[slingshot]

I've been trying to get a new garden spot going in between the floods & winds this spring. This ground is sorry. I finally got a siphoning system set up from an old pond and started watering what few things survived Mother Nature this spring. Some tomato plants really perked up when they started drinking some of the nastiest, worst smelling pond water on the North American Continent! Cows have been contributing to that pond for at least 75 years, according to the neighbors. If Mother Nature will let me, I can't wait to get something else planted and see what else likes that stuff!

[Lowdown3]

Definitely some benefits in that. Luckily our pond has never went fully dry, but if it ever did, I'd seriously consider pulling a dozer down in there and scooping out some of the top layer and dropping it right in one of the garden areas.

[eeyore]

One year we had huge (over 7') tomato plants, but they never had any fruit on them, great thick stems and big leaves. Had simular results from upside down tomatoes.

I read an article last year that said that if you use too much manure (which i did in both cases) it will grow huge plants but they won't fruit. I guess it was good to learn the lesson before i needed it. "Too much of good thing can be a bad thing"

http://www.wtop.com/?hlpage=37&nid=47&sid=1255096

Sep 24, 2007 ... That's why we always warn gardeners NOT to use raw manure in their gardens if ... Manure is fine to use, but only if it is composted first. ...

[Klayton]

@eeyore: I am not a huge gardner by any means, but were the results you got because of too much nitrogen? I know a fertilizer with too much nitrogen in a flower bed will result in huge plants, huge leaves, but no to almost no flowers. I wonder if it is the same thing happening to your tomatoe plants?

[Klayton]

OH, I was once told the following:

High % nitrogen = green stuff (hay/grasses)

balanced fertilizer (going off your soil deficiencies) = great fruits, veggies, and flowers...

[Klayton]

OMG **tripletap** stupid internet provider

[Klayton]

**doubletap** sorry

[miked2345]

Ok, my gardening ignorance is about to show, but here's my question anyway....

Is there any health risk from watering a veggie garden with funky water?

I ask this only because of an issue a year or two ago... There were bad fruits or veggies coming from Mexico - they had E-coli or something like that. It turns out that they were watering the crops with waste water... Not sure what was in it, but it was bad and affected the crops too.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Ok, my gardening ignorance is about to show, but here's my question anyway....
Is there any health risk from watering a veggie garden with funky water? I ask this only because of an issue a year or two ago... There were bad fruits or veggies coming from Mexico - they had E-coli or something like that. It turns out that they were watering the crops with waste water... Not sure what was in it, but it was bad and affected the crops too.

It's not a bad question. The thing is on how is it being watered. If contaminated water is sprayed on the fruit and then the fruit absorbs it or the fruit is not properly washed then there will be an issue. If the water is placed at or below ground level then the soil, plant and nature will take care of the contaminates. Unless the fruit is dropped on the soil then improperly handled and not cleaned before market. The issue comes in these ways and when the harvesters,producers,sellers and shippers (sarcasm) who are under no pressure or in no hurry (end sacarsm) handle the product improperly, like washing of hands and proper cleaning/processing of the product. Having 100 people in the local store/market run their grubby little dirt diggers all over your tomatoe before someone decides to finally buy and consume it doesn't help either.

[slingshot]

I appreciate the discussion about the pathogens in that pond water. It was in the back of my mind while I was rigging up the system to siphon down to the garden. I was thinking like Matt said about it going directly on the ground to be soaked up and not sprayed on the plant or fruit. I use it to wet down the compost pit also. Cattle rotate through that pasture periodically and I knew about e coli, etc, so I was concerned. The pond also has fish in it that should help recycle the "cow contributions!" Ha! DW is OCD about washing anything, especially food, so I hope it works out. I've got another pond that needs cleaning out. It has the blackest gooey mud in it that some kind of little worm lives in it by the gazillions. I'm going to spread some of that mud on the pastures, and some goes into the compost pit, when I get around to cleaning it out. Hope it all works out with the garden using all this "free" fertilizer. Hope I don't kill my dang self trying to save a few dollars! :)