Lawn food

[den_bish]

Hi

Have just got back from 4 months away to find that my dearest mother has treated the lawn with lawn food that has moss killer in it about 10 days ago.
How long should I wait till I can have my tort wandering around in the garden again? God I could brain her sometimes!!!

[TerrorTortoise]

I don't know but I wouldn't put my tort out

[annsimpson1]

I would say at a guess a few weeks at least, untill it rains the product won't get washed down into the roots then it has to do its job, the moss has to die, be removed so sadly I think your out of luck for a long time, it might say on the packet how long before it kills the moss but its what it also puts into the grass as a fertilizer that also matters.

[den_bish]

Cheers ann

God I could bloomin wring her neck!!!!
That's it I am going to build a proper outdoor enclosure then it won't be an issue in the future!

Looked at the pack and it doesn't say anything about it being dangerous to pets - just fish!

[jahred]

Well, out of curiousity I looked up the ingredients for such things and they contain stuff like:

"NPK 10-2-2 + MCPA, Dichlorprop-p, Ferrous Sulphate."

So, I think its best to play it safe and not put your Tortoise out on it!

[annsimpson1]

I assume its dangerous as its designed to kill, even if it is just moss, as for other animals apart from rabbits etc not many actually eat grass or moss and I assume that anyone with any common sense wouldn't put a rabbit out on grass that had been treated so while it maynot cause any harm its not a risk I personally would take, is it all over maybe theres a patch thats not been treated?

[Mrs Mental]

I'd err on the side of caution for a good while too Ann

[thelooneyflyer]

I'd leave it for a while the weedkillers i use with work state that animals must be kept of for 24 hours but that is the likes of dogs and cats that don't eat the grass or weeds, the weeds can take up to 10 days to die so the chemicals are going to be evident for sometime after would of thought would be the same with lawn feed. Personally i'd water the lawn every 2 or 3 days unless there has been a good amount of rain and keep the tortoise off for at least 4-6 weeks maybe longer remember not to fed weeds from near lawn than may have been treated intentionally or via wind etc when treating.