motor oil as a lawn fertilizer.

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so check this out. i was reading up on florida fertilizer, came across a uni page which said this.

essential nutrients required in very small quantities for turfgrass growth are referred to as 'micronutrients' i.e., iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), boron (B), chlorine (Cl) and molybdenum (Mo).

looks like used oil to me. so what is it in used oil which kills grass? i have a patch of yard which i accidently spilled a gallon of used oil about 10 years ago.
to this very day nothing will grow there. i have dug up the bad soil and replaced it many times and still nothing grows.
 
Don't tell the EPA.

It's not the metal/semimetalic elements doing the killing... it's the toxic (mostly ringed) organics.....the same reason you don't want the stuff in your gut or on your skin. These come from partial combustion, gasoline, etc....

10 years, and you've replaced the soil? Wow!
 
10 years is pretty incredible. I remember years ago when people may have allegedly poured the used motor oil on the weeds in the driveway. The weeds came back every year.
 
If I remember correctly, one of the "pranks" they do in the Fight Club movie is put up a billboard that says something like "Did you know that you can use old motor oil to fertilize your lawn?"
 
yeah it was 10 years. i had a tube frame sand rail with a 1600cc vw engine in it. i change the oil and manage to spill the whole thing out in the yard without knowing it. it soaked for like a week. i figured it was too late to do anything so i just left it. after a few years i dug up the area and replaced the soil. still nothing.
did it again after a few years, still nothing.

some weeds will grow there, but no grass.
 
Was it Penzoil or Quaker State?
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I posted something very similar about 3 years ago and received derision for it.

I think motor oil is an OK fertiliser (sort of).

Grandad used to douse his blackberry bushes in used oil and burn them.

The area that was formerly blackberry infested was the greenest, lushest part of the paddock the next year.

I think it's the oil part that's bad...and the lead in those days.
 
The main reason you don't pour used oil on the ground is that it gets into the ground water. It may take a while ..and YMMV. I imagine burning it on the surface would have other effects.
 
Quote:

essential nutrients required in very small quantities for turfgrass growth are referred to as 'micronutrients' i.e., iron (Fe), manganese

I've always wondered why Mobil1 users had the best lawns....
 
A few years ago I visited a place in North Dakota. Guy had a barn full of ancient tractors and took my family on a personal tour. He explained that the early tractors did not have an oil sump, but the oil just dripped through and into the ground. Presumably didn't prevent the crops from growing.
 
Total loss oil systems were common for decades.

They used such advanced formulae as neat's foot oil amongst others, and relied on drip fed boundary lubrication.

Quantities involved are tiny really.

(in comparison to Grandad's oiled dirt garage floor, where nothing grew).
 
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