In article Sr3jk.151$wS4.52@trnddc03, "Mike" wrote:

"Marie Dodge" wrote in message
...

I hope you didn't make a mistake our neighbor made one year by using a
fertilizer for lawns that contained a weed killer of some kind. It took
several plantings dying on them before it occurred to them to check the
bag........


I'm careful enough to keep the weed killer separate from the other garden
supplies.

The problem I'm sure was using ammonium phosphate via
http://www.johnchapman.com/
Apparently there was even more phosphate damage judging from the cracked
bark on the sunny side of the avocado tree. The melon section had too much
as well though it looks that the vines have become acclimated and have begun
to grow.

(Sigh) Besides damaging your plants, the chem ferts are salts and
damage the flora and fauna of your soil. More over you are encouraging
the nitrogen consumers which will consume the organic content of your
soil leading to a loss of natural fertility (and increasing amounts of
purchased chemical fertilizers to maintain the soils present fertility)
and water retentiveness, which in turn encourages nitrates to run off
and join the local water table which which affects human health.

http://extension.missouri.edu/xplor/envqual/wq0103.htm

Human babies are extremely susceptible to acute nitrate poisoning
because of certain bacteria that may live in their digestive system
during the first few months of life. These bacteria change nitrate into
toxic nitrite (NO2). The nitrite reacts with hemoglobin (which carries
oxygen to all parts of the body) to form methemoglobin, which does not
carry oxygen. The level of oxygen being carried throughout the body
decreases in proportion to the amount of hemoglobin converted to
methemoglobin. As the oxygen level decreases, the baby is suffocated.
This condition is called methemoglobinemia.

The most obvious symptom of nitrate poisoning is a bluish color of the
skin, particularly around the eyes and mouth. This is called cyanosis. A
baby with these symptoms should be taken to an emergency medical
facility immediately. The doctor will take a blood sample to be sure the
baby is suffering from nitrate poisoning. The blood sample of an
affected baby is a chocolate brown instead of a healthy red. Nitrate
poisoning can be treated, and in most cases the baby makes a full
recovery. It is crucial, however, to deal with the problem immediately,
because without treatment a baby can die.

-----

What can I say? You and your petroleum based fertilizers are a menace to
the environment.
--

Billy
Bush and Pelosi Behind Bars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aEo...eature=related