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Overheard a guy at the nursery say he waters his maples with dish soap water
I was grabbing some mulch at the local nursery (Riverside Garden Supply, you know the one) and this old timer was telling the cashier he mixes a tablespoon of Dawn into his watering can every other week for his Japanese maples. Said it breaks surface tension so the water actually penetrates the root ball instead of just running off. I laughed it off at first but then I tried it on a red maple that's been struggling with dry soil for like 3 years. After 2 months the new growth is actually noticeable. Anyone else heard of this trick or is this guy just a lucky weirdo?
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henryr456d agoOG Member
That's actually not as crazy as it sounds. I remember reading a study from some university extension program about using a tiny amount of soap as a wetting agent for hydrophobic soil. The issue is dry organic matter in pots can get water repellant over time, and the soap just lets the water sink in instead of beading up. Your mileage may vary on the whole Dawn thing though, some soaps have degreasers or additives that could mess with the soil biology if you overdo it. I'd keep it to a few drops per gallon and only when the soil's bone dry, just to be safe.
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lilyt236d ago
Oh, I think you might have misread that a bit... the soap goes in the water for the soil, not on the leaves. Putting soap directly on leaves can burn them or clog up the pores, especially if it's sunny out. The whole point is just to break the surface tension so the water actually soaks into the pot instead of just sitting on top. I've done it a few times with my succulents when they get super dry and the water just beads up and runs off, and it works fine as long as you use like one tiny drop per gallon. Too much soap though and you'll end up with foam bubbles coming out the bottom of the pot which is just messy and probably not great for the roots either.
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