Possible Reason for Adding Sevin to Planting?

[bluelacedredhead]

I bought a book of recipes from an Amish community at a sale today. In it I found the following mixture for planting Melons.

1 T. Sevin Dust
1 T. Agricultural Lime
1 coal shovel of Hyperhumus (some kinda dirt from the peat bogs of New Jersey?)
1 coal shovel of sand
1 coal shovel of woodash

Mix and put with the seed when you plant cantaloupe or watermelon. Makes a Juicy Melon. ;D

I agree with the humus, but I don't understand why both ash and lime? But I really don't understand the reasoning behind adding Sevin to the soil when planting? Just Cuz? Or was there some Scientific reason for this?

[jcm05]

Typical new jersey-ans. ;D

The soil here in the north east is naturally acidic. That may explain a couple of the amendments.

[bluelacedredhead]

You know what acidic soil means? Blueberries!! Yummmmm....

I had to google Hyper-Humus. I had no clue what that was. A brand name apparently of dirt mined from peat bogs in N.J. Named hyper cuz it's from Joisy?

I used liquid gypsum on my garden this year. What a change from the concrete-like texture prior to the application. I shoulda retested the pH. :-[Next year..

[PVP]

Gypsum basically is balanced, as I understand it ... "twin crystal" calcium sulfate.

Wood ash and lime are two different animals. The wood ash = potash and is good for plant structure (like roots and stems) and general plant health.

I have no idea what the Sevin would be for unless something living in the soil either eats the roots or possibly hatches and bores the stems or maybe cutworm ... dunno.

I've also seen Sevin used to bump flowers off fruit trees ... like when the apple blossoms are on so thick that if every one made fruit, the load would be too much for the tree. But I don't see that as a the use for putting Sevin in the planting hole for melons.


Peace, PV

[bluelacedredhead]

Thanks PV. Too late to experiment with it here this year, but I might give it a whirl in 2011, Minus the Sevin.

[annie]

Maybe the Sevin is added to the mix to kill underground grubs. It's listed as being effective against underground grubs, though the instruction say to spread it on the soil-surface and then water it in.

[swampr]

wood ash also contains oxides and hydroxides, which are equivalent to powerful fast acting lime, which could bump pH above 7, malking some nutrients less plant available. i'd spread it out thin, due to metals, copper lead cadmium etc which can be toxic. too much wood ash in one place is not a good idea.

[texted]

I read somewhere that Sevin is very toxic to earthworms. Anyone else read that? I've been trying to build a soil environment attractive to earthworms. Wouldn't adding Sevin defeat what I have been doing?

Ted

[landarc]

I would not advise adding Sevin (Carbaryl) to any soil that I was trying to create a healthy environment for earthworms. It has been reported as toxic to earthworms in several studies. In general, it is effective for grub control and has limited persistence in the soil. It will only last a week or two in the soil. Long enough to cause you problems.

[sunflowers]

This is just a guess, but the Sevin could be for the larvae that become cucumber beatles.

I know from personal experience that if you don't watch your melon and squash plantings when they first germinate that the cucumber beatles can eat the young plants to death. We've lost thousands of feet of row to them when we got too busy to pay attention. Now we scout the new plantings daily and spray as soon as we see more than just a few of those critters.

Once the plants get bigger than about 4 true leaves, they can grow faster than any damage and we don't have to spray any more.

One problem about putting the Sevin directly in the soil tho is that Sevin can be toxic to some seeds. I'm not sure about melon and squash seeds, but it is toxic for most cole family seeds except for Radish. Often directions for getting "clean" Radishes involves spreading Sevin over the seed row as a granular or drench to prevent those maggots that ruin the radishes.

Carol

[flowerpower]

May 30, 2010 8:28:32 GMT -5 bluelacedredhead said:

I had to google Hyper-Humus. I had no clue what that was. A brand name apparently of dirt mined from peat bogs in N.J. Named hyper cuz it's from Joisy?

That's the area where the Jersey Devil hangs out.

[bluelacedredhead]

Cousin of Taz?
A little Whirling Dervish that looks like a long paste tomato? He'd be good for planting bulbs, ;D