# Plants from Walmart, pesticides.



## chasesoda (Nov 23, 2011)

I was given three plants from Walmart, a golden pothos and two Jenny Craig plants. I am unsure if I want to use these, do you now if Walmart uses pesticides in their plants?

Thanks!


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## eileenb714 (Oct 29, 2011)

Walmart's plants come from other sources. I doubt Walmart sprays them with pesticides but it's hard to tell if the nursery where they came from did.


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

Never heard of a Jenny Craig plant... Walmart sources plants from lots of places. You should assume that any plant grower big enough to sell to Walmart has a whole lot of plants. A whole lot of plants means pesticides, like it or not. Chances are very good that they spray routinely, even if they don't see pests. 

Could they be clean? Possibly... I wouldn't risk it. Grow them out for a month or two and then use them.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

chasesoda said:


> I was given three plants from Walmart, a golden pothos and two Jenny Craig plants. I am unsure if I want to use these, do you now if Walmart uses pesticides in their plants?
> 
> Thanks!




Half the time they don't even water the plants (I usually find half dead really dry plants)so I doubt they use pesticides,but the growers probably do.I have used plants from them though.Make sure you clean them properly and give them some time before you use them.


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## naadbrahma (Sep 14, 2012)

I'd remove the plants from soil, wash them off, and then re-pot them in soil. Give a month or so to grow and then they'll be terrarium ready.


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## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

Wash the plants in a plain mild dish soap like Joy or Dawn uncented. Plain meaning plain, no antibacterial etc. 

Use a teaspoon in a 5G bucket of water and wash off the plants then rinse well. Then soak in a weak bleach solution. Use another 5g bucket with about 1 1/2c of bleach. 

Rinse well again then soak the plants so they can re-hydrate in a bucket of freshwater and you can plant away.

I was told this by one of the botanists here at JMU who takes care of the arboretum for removing any unwanted pests like snails and their eggs. They actually use a horticultural product for this when they bring plants into their greenhouse but it's not available for common household use.


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

That will get rid of surface residue, but a lot of people worry about systemic pesticides (which are in the plant itself). I don't particularly worry about this, but then again I grow all my own plants and know what goes into them (no pesticides!). 

I would suspect that low levels of systemic pesticides will show no ill effects towards frogs. Especially modern pesticides which are often much more targeted towards insects than anything else. But, I don't worry about it because it doesn't affect me. You might choose to worry about it, and frogs are expensive!


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## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

I wouldn't think systemics would harm the frogs, they aren't eating the plants. Maybe springs could die..or isopods if they eat decaying leaves off the plants.


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

JaredJ said:


> I wouldn't think systemics would harm the frogs, they aren't eating the plants. Maybe springs could die..or isopods if they eat decaying leaves off the plants.


I think people worry that as plant material decays it will make the pesticide available to the frogs (or invertebrates). I don't think that is very likely myself. While systemics stick around for a while inside plant tissues, they don't stick around forever. I think the risk is pretty small, but everybody has to make their own decisions about these kinds of things.


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