I put down Milorganite on Saturday. It poured all day Sunday and it's now warming up to the 80's. My yard smells terrible. I know there's debate on whether it's a good or bad smell but ultimately how long is it going to hang around? I read on multiple threads only a few days but I'm going on day 5 and it's still bad enough to not open the windows. My question is, what's the longest its smell has stuck around for you guys?
Bermuda_Newbie
It lasts usually 2 weeks for me when it's hot and humid. Rain (or getting it wet) usually brings out that sweet smell as well.
Well, it's very impressive $h!t.UFG8RMIKE said:
There are no pathgens (bacteria, viruses, etc.) in "biosolid" fertilizers regardless of the poop origins. In the immortal words of The Bard, "Poop is poop".
The main concern with "biosolid" fertilizers used on food crops appears to be related to copper, chromium, zinc and other metallic ion levels. For this reason, all biosolid fertilizer is highly regulated and tested for heavy metal contamination. Government testers place samples from each batch in a small, dark room and then play "Master of Puppets" at about 120 decibels with the bass boosted to max. If the sample forms a mosh pit and rocks out, the entire batch is rejected. If the sample complains "that isn't music" or "it all sounds alike", then the fertilizer is clearly free of heavy metal contamination.
Due to the chance some biosolid fertilizers might prefer listening to Metallica over Mel Torme', there is now a movement (no pun intended) to ban the use of biosolids on food crops. These bans have mostly been backed by politically leftist NGOs which makes this ban on recycling rather ironic.
There are a lot more concerns over biosolids than just metals. Using them in a yard probably won't hurt anyone but there are many articles about the other possible contaminants in biosolids. The main one being pharmaceuticals. If you are using it on your lawn you will probably never have an issue but for people that are using biosolids in gardens and farms there is a lot of questions that aren't answered. I don't allow my sons to eat the lawn but I would think twice about putting biosolids in my vegetable garden until there are more testing and answers.hsvtoolfool said:
I think soybean meal fertilizers like Ringer smell much worse when they break down in the heat -- like rotting garbage. To me Milorganite smells like a bog, not a sewer.
I love the smell of it. But I also secretly hope my neighbor doesn't, which makes me love it more.
Was walking down the street once about 5 houses away from mine. Thought to myself, "Wow it stinks around here today."
Got closer to my home and yup, we were the source thanks to good ol' milo!
Thankfully the smell usually only lasts a couple of days and then either we're used to it or it's gone.
Got closer to my home and yup, we were the source thanks to good ol' milo!
Thankfully the smell usually only lasts a couple of days and then either we're used to it or it's gone.
You are right about concerns with emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, hormones, PFOAs, etc. but when it's applied at agronomic rates there's really not much of a load of those chemicals going down. We are also drinking them in our water, I'm more concerned about that....or I was when I was on City water anyway. Well water doesn't have much of those but more likely to have legacy pesticide and Radionuclide issues around my neck of the woods.TN Hawkeye said:
That said I wouldn't use Milo on unprocessed food crops or in my own garden either. There's plenty of hay pasture that can take all we have and turn those nutrients into animal feed.
Obviously I was jesting. On a more serious note...
Have independent scientific studies measured metals, pharmaceuticals, or hormones appearing in food crops solely due to biosolid fertilizers? Can anyone provide some links to these studies? I'd love to dig deeper on this topic. Everything I find is about water supply contamination.
The larger problem the public faces is that science and higher education itself has been utterly corrupted and politicized. The ongoing "human-caused climate change" and "anti-vaccine" insanity alone makes me think everyone on the planet is taking crazy pills. I'm not discounting food contamination as a genuine concern. Scientists have found PCB molecules literally everywere on Earth. But this food contamination thing sounds like the type of click-bait-hysteria that causes mainstream media and government bureaucrats to drool like Saint Bernards.
Have independent scientific studies measured metals, pharmaceuticals, or hormones appearing in food crops solely due to biosolid fertilizers? Can anyone provide some links to these studies? I'd love to dig deeper on this topic. Everything I find is about water supply contamination.
The larger problem the public faces is that science and higher education itself has been utterly corrupted and politicized. The ongoing "human-caused climate change" and "anti-vaccine" insanity alone makes me think everyone on the planet is taking crazy pills. I'm not discounting food contamination as a genuine concern. Scientists have found PCB molecules literally everywere on Earth. But this food contamination thing sounds like the type of click-bait-hysteria that causes mainstream media and government bureaucrats to drool like Saint Bernards.
Oh me too! I actually plan to use something different (urea and feature) but it was left over from when I planned to use it last year. We were cleaning and reorganizing our shed and I figured I'd just throw it down to get rid of it. I used it on about 2k sq ft plus some shrubs and roses around. Took forever to spread with my hand spreader. I have my daughter's birthday party on June 15th and I'm hoping it will be gone by then. If not, I might be trying the poo pouri.minifarmer said:
Aside from cost the smell is the main reason I don't use it, I can't stand the smell of it.
My favorite is when people say it smells like blueberries. If your blueberries smell like that crap you need to return them to the store and get yo money back 😂🤣
My favorite is when people say it smells like blueberries. If your blueberries smell like that crap you need to return them to the store and get yo money back 😂🤣
@hsvtoolfool
+1 on this: The larger problem the public faces is that science and higher education itself has been utterly corrupted and politicized. The ongoing "human-caused climate change" and "anti-vaccine" insanity alone makes me think everyone on the planet is taking crazy pills.
You likely won't be able to find studies on biosolids directly applied to food chain crops in the U.S. because it is essentially illegal to apply it to them in most if not all states, probably a federal regulation actually. North Carolina does not allow it and we allow quite a bit when it comes to wastewater and residuals land application.
But don't get me wrong, I love biosolids...I literally just applied 1,000lbs of the stuff on my lawn.
Smell is not bad but we haven't had any rain either - only my manual irrigation.
+1 on this: The larger problem the public faces is that science and higher education itself has been utterly corrupted and politicized. The ongoing "human-caused climate change" and "anti-vaccine" insanity alone makes me think everyone on the planet is taking crazy pills.
You likely won't be able to find studies on biosolids directly applied to food chain crops in the U.S. because it is essentially illegal to apply it to them in most if not all states, probably a federal regulation actually. North Carolina does not allow it and we allow quite a bit when it comes to wastewater and residuals land application.
But don't get me wrong, I love biosolids...I literally just applied 1,000lbs of the stuff on my lawn.
Smell is not bad but we haven't had any rain either - only my manual irrigation.
I read parts of an article the other night from the EPA basically saying they don't have the staffing to test for all the contaminants. Let me see if I can find it.hsvtoolfool said:
Edit- here you go. I made it through about 30% of it so I can't speak to the entire thing but what I read was pretty enlightening.
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-11/documents/_epaoig_20181115-19-p-0002.pdf
Thanks for the PDF, @TN Hawkeye! It's hard to believe that with a total 2018 budget exceeding $5.6 billion the EPA has the gall to state they don't have enough money to spit out some answers on this matter. This is an obvious crossover topic with the CDC, and their 2018 budget was only a mere pittance at $11 billion. Good gravy I just made myself angry thinking about the money that Washington bureaucrats burn through with no output. I guess somebody has to watch YouTube all day long. Grrrr,
Are there no true nerds in science anymore? Answering these questions via mass spectrometry and some controlled hydroponics should be right up some geek's alley.
As an aside, we talked about biosolids at the cigar shop. After I explained Milorganite's name, one wise guy said, "We know it contains lots of cheese and beer." Har dee har har, Alice. To da moon.
Are there no true nerds in science anymore? Answering these questions via mass spectrometry and some controlled hydroponics should be right up some geek's alley.
As an aside, we talked about biosolids at the cigar shop. After I explained Milorganite's name, one wise guy said, "We know it contains lots of cheese and beer." Har dee har har, Alice. To da moon.
It doesnt take a science nerd to understand that you are paying good money to feed your lawn with heavily concentrated, carcinogens, heavy metals, pharmaceutical compounds, and pretty much the worst of everything. Imagine the crap that goes down peoples toilets and drains precipitated down to the concentrated solids. Its insane.
I'm far, far from a liberal lefty and I will apply virtually any range of chemical fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide but one thing I wont voluntarily apply on my lawn is concentrated biosolids.
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I'm far, far from a liberal lefty and I will apply virtually any range of chemical fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide but one thing I wont voluntarily apply on my lawn is concentrated biosolids.
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