permaculture

[mangodance <bmn@iglou.com>]

elijah smith wrote:
>  
> I got a load of kiddie pools - the premolded plastic type - at an 
> auction.  I've been using them for little ponds - azolla, hyacinth, fish 
> from the local ponds.  The water plants are to be used as mulch around 
> the garden & orchard.
>  
> However -
>  
> We were talking about growing edible plants in these pools (wet taro) 
> and someone said that this type of plastic will leach nasty stuff into 
> the plants grown in it.  This brought up the question - are there any 
> health hazards with using the water plants from the pond as mulch for 
> other plants?   Should it be used for non-food crops only or something?


I can't speak to them specifically, but in general, all plastics will 
contain various agents to keep them flexible, etc (depending on the 
properties desired by the mfr), and most will eventually leach.  Whether 
they are hazardous is a guess.  But do keep in mind that even relatively 
non-noxious common articles can be hazardous.  Garden hoses are 
notorious for making animals sick...and I can personally attest to the 
death of several hundred fish after having used a garden hose to 
suppliment about 15% of the water (after the dechlor of course).  Now I 
know they have special hoses for livestock watering...but even those 
have to have other chems in them in order for them to remain supple.