Social media is full of these garden fallacies
By Peggy Griffith
OSU Extension master gardener volunteer
Searching for and finding reliable information on the Internet is getting more difficult than ever. Worrying about what “might bite you” is a waste of time. Using what “should help your plants grow” might be something that costs a lot of money or is detrimental to your soil.
I was scrolling through a popular social media site when I came across the latest warnings. You know, don’t eat this or don’t do that. The warning was regarding a cute little furry caterpillar called the “Asp Wasp,” which, as one person commented, “resembled Donald Trump’s hair.” The warning went on to state that if you got stung by this creature, you would suffer blistering of the skin, heart palpitations, nerve damage and in some cases, death.
Being a master gardener volunteer, I decided to do some further research into this creature since I didn’t want to come across it while working in my garden and suffer these symptoms. Here’s what I found: its actual name is southern flannel moth – Megalopyge opercularis. It is a venomous caterpillar. It doesn’t “sting,” but instead has many furlike spikes that contain venom, and the toxicity increases with the increasing size. It emerges twice per year, once in early summer and again in the fall. BUT – it is only a concern if you live in the native range of the insect – from New Jersey to Florida or west to Arkansas and Texas. Thus, we have nothing to fear here in Ohio. To read the details about this moth, go to: http://go.osu.edu/fluffymoth.
Another popular fallacy that I have come across numerous times on social media is the “vinegar and salt weed killer,” which makes me comment, “No, don’t do it!” Each time this circulates it states it is a safer alternative to using chemical weed killers. The instructions are to mix white vinegar, salt and liquid dishwashing soap to spray on weeds. While this does “work” as a weed killer, there are issues with it – just like any other chemical. First, it is a contact and not a systemic herbicide. It will kill weed tops, but not the roots. Thus, you will need to spray more. Household vinegar has a low level of acetic acid, and thus is not as good as the commercial vinegars used by organic farmers. If you do purchase vinegar with a higher level of acetic acid, it can burn you. If you continually apply this mixture, the salt can build up in the soil, damaging the plants you are trying to grow. Anything that is considered a weed killer is not necessarily “safe.” Be sure to use caution when mixing or using any chemical (yes, vinegar and salt are considered chemicals). Read more of the research about this concoction here: http://go.osu.edu/homemadeherbicide.
If you come across these or any other garden fallacies, always do your homework and find out if you are doing more damage than good. Extension organizations across the country provide unbiased, research-based information. Thus, you can get great information that’s based on science. You can use “university extension” as two of the key words in your searches. OSU Extension can help you sort through the details by visiting our clinic. Finally, you can search the national extension site at http://extension.org to do some research on the topic.