Fire In The Hole! Potting Soil Flammability Test

Can it really start a fire in a dry plant pot?

It's summer and fire season, a time when most of us are watching for dry brush, trees and grasses that might pose a hazard around our homes and businesses.   But there is something else flammable that we might have not even considered...potting soil, dry crusty potting soil.

Dry potting soil is not easily re-hydrated and floats on water

Who would have thought such a thing possible, I mean the whole fire issue seems so far removed from growing plants in containers that why would it cross our minds?  But it is true...potting soil is flammable, actually very flammable when dry.

I got to thinking about this a couple weeks ago as I was listening to a local news story on bark mulch fires being a real problem in our area, the fellow they were interviewing showed how these types of fires often migrate up through the soil to the base of a home and can end up causing the structure to catch fire.  Now I have seen first hand a bark mulch fire caused by someone's carelessly discarded cigarette butt, and how it was migrating up toward a building just as the expert had shown.  That is what got me going on dry potting soil possibly being a danger as well since it is mostly organic matter like bark which burns readily and how we NEVER hear about it.

Then today another blogger sort of beat me to the punch when he blogged about a reported an incident of a fire that destroyed a dozen apartments where a 56 year old man lost his life and that fire began in someone's planter.   Shocking I know but it's true.  And in case you are wondering, no, dry potting soil does not self ignite, it needs a spark to set it to smoldering before it becomes a fire hazard.

With that said I got all fired up (pun intended) and decided to do a little experiment of my own just to see for myself how flammable this stuff really is and hopefully have something to show you too.  So here goes!

Safety first...water to put out the fire

I placed a handful of dry potting soil in a cast iron skillet.  Since I don't have lit cigarette butts at my disposal I used a lighter which took only a few seconds to make the potting soil smolder.

Potting soil smoldering with a little glowing spark

It is important to note that it does not matter which brand of potting soil you have, they are all equally flammable.

Five minutes into the test this is how much burned

If there would have been a good breeze blowing my little pile would have actually flamed up into a real fire. Unfortunately we had no breeze so I was stuck blowing on the smoking pile of potting soil and this is what I got.

Oh woopie

The flammability of potting soils is due to the nature of the material potting soil is made up of...and all recipes are pretty much the same with each company adding their own variations to the basic mix. These products are really not soil at all and in the industry are called "soil-less mixes".  In fact potting soil is mostly peat, bark (cedar which is very flammable when dry) and perlite.

After fifteen minutes, one third or more is burnt up

Companies also often add bits of other ingredients to make each  recipe uniquely their own but the main ingredients...bark and peat or coconut coir (husk) are always present and all are always quite flammable when dry.

So what is the take away from all this?  Two things....FIRST: Keep those containers moist so they will not be able to catch fire.  (This second one is like spitting in the wind to me because those who do it just don't seem to get how dangerous it is or if the do they just don't care.)

One of many I find at the sidewalk in front of our house

SECOND: Stop putting cigarette butts where they do not belong folks!  If wishes were fishes as my momma used to say...and I sure wish there was a way to stop people from doing this but smokers, not all but some, just don't seem to get it that those butts are dangerous.

Oh well...

Need more proof?  Here is a video showing just how fast it can happen.


Safe gardening everyone and keep those hoses handy!


Copyright © 2012 by Patty Hicks
All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. All reviews must include author's name and a link back to this blog.

It's So Unfair!

There is just no other way to say it; every year I work hard, I strive to water, feed and watch carefully.  And then look at what happens!

My only turnip...food for root maggots.

Now granted, I did not sow these seeds, at least I didn't that I remember, though I have been known to regularly toss old seeds out in the compost heap so in essence I guess I did.   There were originally two of them, one wasn't so hot looking but this one...oh I had high hopes for.  It was gorgeous!  The tops looked fabulous and my mouth was watering.  I couldn't stand it any longer and yesterday I pulled this beauty up and what I found, well it wasn't pretty.  The root maggots had beat me to it.

This is what they got.

This is what we got.  Sad isn't it?

Confession: This  is what I hate about gardening.  Most of gardening I like or at least will do because it is needed in order to get a certain result, but this kind of thing is discouraging.  I mean, I only had two turnips!  Couldn't the darn flies go lay their stupid eggs somewhere else.  Really guys, can' ya give me a break!

Dirty little scoundrel!

Now yer lookin' more like the maggot you are!!!

Normally you won't see me growing turnips, radishes and other crops that are affected by these insidious creatures.  I've tried and I hate that I never seem to get the row cover on at the right time or forget to put in on all together...or think, "Maybe this year I won't have to."...that never ends well.  In all honestly, I'd rather buy my root crops at the market and not have to fuss with the root maggots.  So all I can say about this whole turnip growing thing for this year...Oh well, it was worth a try.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Battles

Its a good thing the sun is shining today or I would be staying in bed with the covers pulled over my head.  Yesterday evening I went out to check on my veggie garden, the ones the cat love so much.

These plants were laying all over the top of the soil and some buried too.

True to form the cats once again took their liberty but this time decided to dig up my best looking sugar snap peas so they could relieve themselves. (face turning red) It took me a good half hour to do the needed readjusting of the soil barriers in Garden Alcatraz.  If this last attempt doesn't keep them out  I guess I'm going to have to put up and electric fence around each of my garden boxes to keep them out.  This is just  nuts.

So much for it looking artistic, at this point I only hope it work.

As I was starting the barrier redo I noticed soil that had been heaved up.  "You have got to be kidding MOLES TOO!?!"  I was shouting at them now.  I'm sure the neighbors, who were in their back yard appreciated all my vows to destroy these vermin but I really didn't car at the time.

Can you relate?

Besides the need to vent, the reason I'm even sharing this is because we thought we had the moles licked when we installed hardware cloth at the bottom of our boxes but I guess not.  The sneaky buggers have somehow found how to get past it!  The mole managed to find his way into into 3 out of our 4 boxes.  I literally wanted to cry

NO not my special leaks!  Yer gonna die!

He tunneled in the leeks that were just getting established, then hit the carrot and pea patch the cats hadn't pooed in, and then ran under several of my beautiful garlic plants.  WHAT!?!  Oh if I could only fire a gun in city limits.  This means war!!!

The ground heaved and yup...that's a hole all right.

I can't run electric fence underground though right now I sure wish I could.  Moles are very difficult to evict from raised box type gardens...I know we tried that a few years ago when we constructed bed using landscape timbers in our front yard with no wire mesh barrier.  It was a nightmare.

The only thing I can figure happened is that the tunnels made by the mole for the last couple of years have somehow allowed the wire mesh to push down enough to where he can sneak in.  (Note to self...next time staple it to the sides of the box.)

Well...thanks for the ear and I hope this bit of mental processing will somehow help you in your own gardening problems.

Happy Gardening!

Cat Rants

Just so you know I don't adore cats.  I like cats and I have even been fond of one or two that we have owned.  However, I also understand that they believe they are the ruling party wherever they decide to live and therein lies the problem.

You would think they own the place.
(Tater reclining on our couch)

Well it ain't happenin' Puddie Pie!  I am the queen!  They are lucky to get fed with the way they act sometimes, puking on furniture, waking me up at 3 am because they are feeling cuddly or howling because their food is not being served quickly enough.  It ain't workin for me Mr Kitty Pie; let me tell you, I can see right through your plan.

Boomer and his man servant...And he thinks I don't see what he's really up to.

I am the ruling queen and cats, well, they are mere beggars I allow to reside with us.  I consider them interlopers, beggars with fur, who believe we live here only to serve as their personal butler and which we do not (well I don't at least).  I guess they didn't get the memo prior to moving in.

Yeah right.  Like I believe a word of it you beggar cat.

To the cats: You think if you purr and meow my resolve will melt and I will fall for your game.  HA!  Guess again!  Its over!  No more!  I'm done!

Why am I ranting today?  I went out to the garden to check on my seedlings.  Now mind you  my garden is carefully covered with chicken wire, wood lattice section and snow fencing because our feline "friends" think it is their personal "throne" and I want to send a clear message to them that it is not!  It seems this year they are more determined than ever to disregard my message...I mean, just look what they have done!!  I'm going to have to put up a cage to keep them out I swear!

AWE COME ON!  REALLY!
(they moved the sticks so they could do their business)

Yeah I just love the smell of cat urine while gardening.

We'll just see about that...THIS MEANS WAR!!!


Copyright © 2011 by Patty Hicks

All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. All reviews must include author's name and a link back to this blog.