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David Hare-Scott[_2_] · 15-03-2009, 12:15 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible

wrote:
Because it isn't a poison as such, it is a microorganism. Grubs
and caterpillars need to get it into their gut by eating it for it
to be effective, which is why you put it on to leaves and other
parts of the plant that makes up their diet, they don't eat dirt.

David

That makes some sense.

But again, if my soil gets "infected" by Bt with repeated
applications, I can stop buying the stuff and just
dust the leaves with the infected soil year after year, right?

That is, dryness doesn't kill it. Wetness doesn't kill it. So where
does it go, once it's in soil? I guess
something else in the soil must kill it. Nothing to live on there?
Well, I'd say the same thing when it's
dissolved in water, but it seems to do just fine that way. Powder and
liquid forms of Bt are active, I am told,
for years.

Google "Bacillus Thuringiensis" and persistence; for 35,000 hits

David