I am planning to use my washing machine water on my
garden but I am concerned about the effects the washing
detergent may have on the plants.
I have got a lot of natives and I can't see them taking too
well to regular doses of Omo.
Do plants tolerate washing machine water? Would it have
an effect on the soil in the long term and the bugs in there?

thanks for any ideas, barb.

i usually let the most sudsy/soapy wash go thru first, then only use the
rinse cycle water. The first time i did this i was amazed at the amount of
water i got. I also added a capful of liquid fertilizer to each watercan
load and the results have been pretty dam good

if u wish to use the first cycle, i advise that you alternate where u place
this water, and i have heard not to use any grey water on any food growing
plants.

if you do a general search on the net on grey water (on australian sites) im
sure you find a lot more information that i can provide

"freebird" wrote in message
...
I am planning to use my washing machine water on my
garden but I am concerned about the effects the washing
detergent may have on the plants.
I have got a lot of natives and I can't see them taking too
well to regular doses of Omo.
Do plants tolerate washing machine water? Would it have
an effect on the soil in the long term and the bugs in there?

thanks for any ideas, barb.

Good morning. A small amount of soap in the grey water will cause your
water to be "wetter". It will soak into the soil faster and not be lost,
because it reduces the surface tension of the water without it. If you
have seen water puddle up in your lawn or run off before it had a chance
soak in, it was because of surface tension. If you could save the soapy
cycle and once a month spray each area of your yard or garden with it, You
probably do it a lot of good.

I have seen grey water from a kitchen sink piped outside the house and where
it drained the weeds grew better and when I wanted to go fishing, that is
where I would dig for earth worms.

Good luck.





"freebird" wrote in message
...
I am planning to use my washing machine water on my
garden but I am concerned about the effects the washing
detergent may have on the plants.
I have got a lot of natives and I can't see them taking too
well to regular doses of Omo.
Do plants tolerate washing machine water? Would it have
an effect on the soil in the long term and the bugs in there?

thanks for any ideas, barb.

"freebird" wrote in message
...
I am planning to use my washing machine water on my
garden but I am concerned about the effects the washing
detergent may have on the plants.
I have got a lot of natives and I can't see them taking too
well to regular doses of Omo.
Do plants tolerate washing machine water? Would it have
an effect on the soil in the long term and the bugs in there?

thanks for any ideas, barb.


I have been using grey water from th washing machine for 2 months now only on
the rear lawn.

The lawn is the greenest in the street, (and needs mowing weekly).

My wife and I were amased how much water comes from the washing machine, I just
move the hose around the lawn and it works a treat.

Make sure you use a phosporus free or low phosphorus detergent, and the
detergent is a wetting agent, that is all "wetter soil" wetting agent is!
detergent without the foaming agent (which is egg white & sugar).....

About the vegies? don't know, I have been using the grey water on the nectarine,
apple and lemon trees, been using lemons, (nectarine & apple not yet ripe, but
close) and haven't got crook yet.

Good luck!
Gerard

thanks everyone, I just wish I would have started earlier
using grey water. In Victoria it is so dry, every drop counts....

"freebird" wrote in message
...
thanks everyone, I just wish I would have started earlier
using grey water. In Victoria it is so dry, every drop counts....

It is very dry here in Melbourne, I thought you were in Kiwiland as you posted
to a nz news server!

I suppose stranger things have happened :-)

We use the water from both rinse cycles and sometimes add some rain water
when it becomes available which is not frequent.
Keeping the water in barrels used to be awesome smelly. Then I decided to
use the pump that pumps the water out to the garden, to aerate the water by
turning the hose line off and diverting the water through a shower head. It
just squirts about 300mm through the air, for about 30minutes, every two or
three days and gets rid of the smell. It works a treat! Most be better for
the soil too.

--
Greetings from Coffs Harbour - we live here 'cause we love it!

"freebird" wrote in message
...
thanks everyone, I just wish I would have started earlier
using grey water. In Victoria it is so dry, every drop counts....

"Gerard" wrote in message
...

My wife and I were amased how much water comes from the washing machine,
I just
move the hose around the lawn and it works a treat.

We connect the hose to some ag-pipe which distributes it more.
The only hassle is that it has to be on a slope to flow through properly
(which isn't a problem for us - our whole yard slopes)

We also move it around after each load for even more coverage.

Harry