Mulch and interesting info on decontaminating soil

[Vera]

HI, as i use sugar cane mulch and nothing else as its really hard for me to get anything else not sure if there are affordable alternatives will try to make my own some time
Found some info here https://www.organicgardener.com.au/blogs/herbicide-alert not mentioning sugar cane mulch though BUT i think the word organic is being abused and im not sure that sugar cane mulch does not contain some hopefully only minimal residue Rocky Point would not really know unless they tested their mulch
Im afraid any thing we source from agriculture is being treated with something and i believe it is impossible to avoid it unless you make your own mulch if you read what is used on growing sugar cane id say there would very likely be some residue. Hopefully not much.
As for the word ORGANIC being abused , a number of years ago the US found residues of herbicides in Heinz baby cereal and other baby foods products made from US soy beans which were heavily sprayed with glysophate BUT still being classed under an organic rating.
I think the only way to help the soil if concerned is plant sunflowers/or other crops that remove contamination in the soil to be used as vegetable growing beds ,then you remove and destroy them when mature dont use seeds for eating in this case , Sunflowers were used to remove contamination on soils in the Chernobyl outer fallout areas for just that purpose look online amazing reading about this just some info some brassicas also do the same ,probably many other plants .

Cleaning up Chernobyl with Sunflowers – Athens Science Observer​

On April 26, 1986, in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, a group of engineers working on the No. 4 Reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accidentally caused one of the greatest environmental disasters known to mankind. 50 tons of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere and...

Why Scientists Plant Sunflowers After Nuclear Disasters​

Why Scientists Plant Sunflowers After Nuclear Disasters

www.iflscience.com

 

[Grandmother Goose]

Whether or not sugar cane, straw, or any other garden mulch might contain herbicides of any kind will largely depend on what part of the world you're in, because regulations vary widely, and some places the regulations that exist are strictly enforced and in others any regulations that exist may as well not exist for lack of any enforcement of them. Also, not all herbicides are made equally, some are extremely dangerous and stick around for decades, others such as glyphosate only exist in the environment for a very short period after use at which point it breaks down into harmlessness, and there has yet to be any conclusively proven evidence of it being harmful to humans WHEN USED PROPERLY... and there we circle right back to regulations and enforcement of such. If you're worried about glyphosate being on your sugar cane garden mulch, don't be. Sit it out in the sun for a few days and it'll break down and become harmless. Now if you're living somewhere that uses other longer lasting and more harmful herbicides on a regular basis, that might pose a problem for you and it's not one that sunflowers will fix because herbicides kill them as well. There's different types of contaminations and each one requires a different type of treatment/clean up method.

 

[JP 1983]

You're pretty far off the mark with your facts about glyphosate @Grandmother Goose .

Glyphosate should be universally banned, like DDT was. No doubts about it... except for Monsanto's billion dollar profits.

Stephanie Seneff can tell you all about that if you have ears to hear.

 

[Vera]

Whether or not sugar cane, straw, or any other garden mulch might contain herbicides of any kind will largely depend on what part of the world you're in, because regulations vary widely, and some places the regulations that exist are strictly enforced and in others any regulations that exist may as well not exist for lack of any enforcement of them. Also, not all herbicides are made equally, some are extremely dangerous and stick around for decades, others such as glyphosate only exist in the environment for a very short period after use at which point it breaks down into harmlessness, and there has yet to be any conclusively proven evidence of it being harmful to humans WHEN USED PROPERLY... and there we circle right back to regulations and enforcement of such. If you're worried about glyphosate being on your sugar cane garden mulch, don't be. Sit it out in the sun for a few days and it'll break down and become harmless. Now if you're living somewhere that uses other longer lasting and more harmful herbicides on a regular basis, that might pose a problem for you and it's not one that sunflowers will fix because herbicides kill them as well. There's different types of contaminations and each one requires a different type of treatment/clean up method.

Hi no time to answer previously i am not worried about glysophate have used and still use on weeds that nothing else destroys such as onion weed and areas where im not growing food if possible trying to change over to vinegar/citric acid mix and nonanoic acid , i was saying that the word organic is abused just like made in australia is also , as for possible residues only testing would tell us so we live with it ,plastics are dangerous , 1 of the chemicals in sun screen has been found in ice cant remember which pole so as a species we do more harm often without knowing so we can only do the best we can ,
Im in the Hunter Valley NSW weather is much more humid and hot now compared to 40 years ago when late husband and i moved here from Perth but originally Sydney outer areas
Im on a block now but until his death lived on small acreage 35 years .