As the title said I (16F) accidently poisoned my mom’s plants. So I am someone who LOVES plants. After my Grandma died i have used them as a way to cope. I personally have at least 70ish plants that I have either bought from online or from stores. My mom treats me like our households plant expert and gotten herself into gardening as well but she is growing more edible foods, lemon seedlings, some type of pepper, tomatoe starters a friend gave her and a 1 year old avocado plant. I have helped her out with this and I as well as her are happy to see this plants. We keep them indoors and my mom was planning on putting them outside on a vertical garden she just brought. The problem is that I don’t grow edible plants. I grow houseplants that are meant to look pretty. So I have been using a product that you sprinkle over the soil and it kills gnats or any bug living in there. That’s what I thought I failed to understand is that this product works by being absorbed into the plant so that if a pest attacks it the plant can kill it on its own. And I have already mixed it I to the soil and even sprinkled some on the top of the soil due to increased number of gnats. Only after seeing a tiktok about how one shouldn’t use this on edible plants did I do research (I could have SWORN that I did already research it any Google told me it was fine to use.) Did i see how i truly fucked up. So to people who still don’t know why i fucked up if we eat it it will most likely kill us if not fuck us up somehow… Im an asshole and im going to buy my mom new plants and somehow tell her that the old ones died or something. If my mom magically has reddit or this story comes up this is for her: Mom I’m sorry I fucked up badly and I’ll fix it i swear. Hell I’ll use the money in my piggy bank to get you more of whatever you want.
TL;DR:
I but a product commonly used for houseplants (meant to look pretty) on my mom’s edible plants. The product works by absorbing into the plant to help it with pest I could have sworn I researched this already but I guess I didn’t. Now I feel like shit and I’m planning on buying my mom new plants and somehow going to lie about here old ones dying. And if mom is reading this or hears this, im sorry I fucked up and I’ll fix it with my own money.
Comments
Make sure to tell your mom ASAP so she doesn’t eat any.
I wouldn’t make up something about the plants, just tell her what actually happened. It’s not going to make any difference in outcome, the plants no good either way.
People make mistakes. It happens. Being honest now will make it easier to move on and figure out what to do next.
Assuming the product is made by a reputable company and you didn’t also buy it off of tiktok, look at the box and see what it says. It should say if it’s safe or not for edible plants.
Don’t take advice off of tiktok, ever, for any reason. It does not reward accuracy, it rewards engagement. If someone says something on there and it sounds interesting, pretend a toddler walked up to you at a park and told you the same thing. You wouldn’t just accept that information. You’d either ignore it or look it up.
Im guessing its Bonide granules or something close with like imdacloprid as the active ingredient? Don’t let her put the plants outside either, even if you decide not to eat them. Bees and other pollinators can be killed just visiting the flowers.
If you’re having issues with fungus gnats, I’d recommend using mosquito bits in your watering can. Safe and non-toxic for people and edible plants.
It won’t kill the adults, but kills the larvae before they can grow up and fly around. The adults eventually die and since no babies are surviving you’ll be free of them in a few weeks.