bug problem :/ i think but im a noob and need to know for sure

[lipps]

Howzit Lipps?

Thanks for the post.
Would you be so kind as to post a link to said article?

Sounds like alarmist B.S. and I'd like to check their facts and citations.

I mean;
"* Ethanol: On the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Hazardous Waste list and capable of causing central nervous system disorders"

Give me a break!

Edit:
Never mind, I found the article.
@
Holistichealthsecrets dot com.
What a crappy article.
Really bad science.

I'm not saying that dryer sheets are completely innocuous.
I'm saying that, that article is over-hyped and misleading.
Garden variety fear mongering.

Most of those chemicals are used in the manufacture of liquid clothing softener.
The dryer sheets do use some of the listed chemicals in their manufacture.
But, the volatiles dissipate rapidly and the actual active ingredients left in the sheet have a very low toxicity.
Especially when they are just sitting on the soil, several yards from where I'm breathing.

That, and all sheets are not created equal.

Bounce, for instance, has way too much perfume.
The perfume is not what repels the gnats and bees.
That's there for peoples noses.
I don't want anything stinking up my buds.
I use Costco dryer sheets.
Very little scent, and very effective on the pests

I do worry a little about the OCD folks that eat large quantities of dryer sheets.

Woman Addicted to Eating Dryer Sheets on TLC's 'My Strange Addictions' | Video - ABC News

She was chewing 4 to 8 sheets a day for 4 years.
Yikes! That can't be good.

Y'all be careful with that ethanol.
Lotta hazard in gettin' wasted.

Aloha,
Weezard

Here: New Study: Scented Dryer Sheets Emit Toxins University of Washington | Apartment Therapy

Why You Need to Ditch Dryer Sheets – EcoWatch: Cutting Edge Environmental News Service

Scented laundry products release carcinogens, study finds - HealthPop - CBS News

I learned years ago that companies will do anything to sell a product and my health doesn't figure into the equation. Your plants are going to absorb what the sheets are putting off that kill the bugs.

[lipps]

Scented laundry products release carcinogens, study finds - HealthPop - CBS News

New Study: Scented Dryer Sheets Emit Toxins University of Washington | Apartment Therapy

[Weezard]

Thanks Lipps.
Read those links.
Not impressed.

When you say;

"I learned years ago that companies will do anything to sell a product and my health doesn't figure into the equation."

I could not agree more.

But this;

"Your plants are going to absorb what the sheets are putting off that kill the bugs."

Is incorrect.
The sheets do not "kill the bugs".
That is not their purpose.
They are not poisonous, and despite the "scare ya" articles they are not even toxic.

They contain a voilatile compound that bollixes the scent receptors of fungus gnats.
When the gnat's try to sniff out some tasty fungus for their offspring, they get lost.
They can not find your plant.
Same with mosquitoes and yellowjackets.
They can't find you.
It is not the scent, that does it, I use unscented and they work quite well.

And while it is true that heating the sheet in the dryer to several hundred degrees, drives off traces of the chemicals used in their manufacture.
Laying them on top of the soil at room temperature does not.

And all of those links fail to mention one very important variable, the concentration of the detected compounds.
They were extremely low.
Undetectable without equipment that is able to sense parts per billion.

Choosing between a few parts per billion of an airborne, volatile, low toxicity, surfactant, while growing healthy plants.
Or letting them get infected, then dosing them with highly toxic pesticides directly on, and in, the buds, in parts per thousand, is a no-brainer for me.

So, if the sheets bother you personally, avoid them.
Most people have no problem.

If you find a better way to prevent FG & RA infestations I'm listening.
'til then, I just bought another box of sheets and I'm off to grow some bud, bud.

Aloha,
Weezard