Sometimes concrete dust can make its way into your garden, getting on your plants. You’ll want to know whether it’s harmful to plants and what you can do to remove it safely. However, it’s generally not going to be a problem.
Concrete dust won’t kill your plants immediately, as it’s not toxic. However, since most mixtures contain limestone, concrete can change the soil’s pH. It makes the soil more alkaline, which many plants don’t like. You may need to adjust the soil’s pH, but it shouldn’t harm your garden.
This article will cover everything you’ll want to know about concrete dust and your plants. You’ll learn about why it’s not toxic and what you can do to clean it off your produce. Let’s begin!
Why Concrete Dust Doesn’t Kill Plants
Concrete consists of water, sand, gravel, and other ingredients. Most concrete uses limestone and minerals such as calcium and silicon. So, while concrete dust would be harmful to you to breathe in, it’s not dangerous to your plants. Many of these components are already found in soil naturally.
If you rinse the dust off the plants, it shouldn’t cause any problems. Although it can change the pH of the soil, you may want to test it to ensure it remains in a healthy range for your plants.
Overall, concrete isn’t toxic and doesn’t contain ingredients that are dangerous to plants. If some dust gets on them, you’ll still want to wash it off so you don’t accidentally breathe it in.
Is Concrete Toxic to Plants?
Concrete is not toxic to plants. Many of the ingredients in concrete you can find in the soil already. So, adding more to the soil shouldn’t harm the plants unless it’s in large amounts. Some gardeners even add concrete dust to the soil to change its pH and nutrient content for their plants.
Concrete can consist of these ingredients, depending on the brand, which you can already find in soil:
- Air
- Aluminum
- Calcium
- Chalk
- Clay
- Crushed stone
- Gravel
- Iron
- Limestone
- Sand
- Silica sand
- Silicon
- Water
None of these ingredients are toxic to plants; since they’re combined using water, nothing changes. So, you shouldn’t worry if you accidentally get some concrete dust in your garden. You will still want to remove it, though, as thick dust can stop the plants from absorbing sunlight properly.
When plants can’t absorb light and nutrients properly, they’ll wilt. However, washing the dust away will allow them to perk back up, so it’s not fatal for plants to get concrete dust on them.
Generally, concrete dust is only harmful if you breathe it in since it can damage your lungs. However, plants don’t have that problem.
Does Concrete Dust Kill Grass?
Concrete dust won’t kill grass immediately, although you’ll still want to remove it. The dust can make it harder for your grass to absorb sunlight and change the pH in the surrounding soil.
Concrete dust has the same effects on grass as on other plants you’re growing in your garden. The dust can make the soil extremely alkaline, which the grass doesn’t like. It restricts its ability to absorb nutrients from the soil.
Luckily, it’s easy to deal with it in the same way. All you need to do is rinse it away with your hose. Then, add fertilizer to the grass to change its pH level. The grass is hardier than many other plants, so you might not even need to change the pH unless you’re dealing with a lot of concrete dust.
Cement Dust Can Block Sun Absorption
Cement dust can prevent leaves on a plant from absorbing sunlight. Thick enough layers of dust on the leaves block their pores and stop them from getting enough sunlight. It wouldn’t kill your plants right away, but you’d notice them starting to wilt. Cleaning the dust off would fix the problem immediately.
The pores on the leaves are called stomata. The cement dust covering the stomata can cause plant development to slow down. It can also cause the plant to experience harmful stress.
So, even though cement dust isn’t toxic to plants, it can still impact their health in various ways. It’s best to wash it off as soon as you have time.
How Cement Dust Impacts Soil pH
Cement does impact the soil that it makes contact with. It raises the soil’s pH, causing it to become more alkaline. This effect comes from the ingredients in concrete, one of which is limestone. Gardeners often use limestone to raise the pH in soil that’s too acidic.
All plants have different preferences for pH levels in the soil. However, most of them prefer the soil to be more acidic than alkaline. The pH in the soil can change how the plant absorbs nutrients. If the pH changes too much outside a plant’s desired level, it won’t absorb nutrients.
That means that concrete dust can lead to nutrient deficiencies in plants, even if the nutrient is abundant in the soil. Plants can recover from nutrient deficiencies if you correct their soil conditions.
Overall, cement dust will impact your plants, but it shouldn’t kill them. Since crumbling concrete planters usually leave behind small amounts of dust, it’s not enough to hurt the plants. The pH conditions of the soil will stabilize over time. However, you can reduce its effects on your plants by making the soil slightly more acidic.
How Do You Remove Cement Dust From Plants?
You can remove cement dust from plants by cleaning them with a damp cloth and rinsing them with water. Depending on the size of the plant’s leaves, you can use a hose, sprinkler, or spray bottle. The cement dust should rinse off very easily.
It’s a straightforward process. Plus, removing the dust allows your plants to continue absorbing sunlight well. Washing the concrete away drastically lessens the odds that you or someone else breathes the dust in.
I’ll break down the steps to removing cement dust from your plants below:
- Take a damp cloth and gently wipe the concrete dust off the leaves and produce on the plant.
- Use a hose or sprinkler to spray the plants with water. The cement dust will wash away into the soil. You can also use a spray bottle on smaller plants.
- Wait a few days and test the soil using a pH kit. Most of the time, you’ll see that the soil became more alkaline (basic) after the cement was mixed with the earth. It’s not always a problem.
- If the soil becomes too basic, you’ll need to make it more acidic again. Manure and some other fertilizers can raise the acidity in the ground.
Cement dust can negatively impact the environment. It can get into the air and lower the air quality, making it dangerous for people to breathe. So, you’ll want to mix the dust with water, stopping it from getting into the air.
In short, you can easily remove concrete dust from plants with just some water. It’s a good idea to monitor the soil’s pH for a few days after doing this. That way, you can catch any drastic changes that would make it harder for plants to absorb nutrients.
Is Concrete Dust Good for Soil?
Concrete dust isn’t good for the soil in large amounts. It can change it to be much more alkaline, hurting plants and creatures living on the earth. The dust can also reduce water drainage, which causes many other issues. Small amounts aren’t harmful, however.
For these reasons, you should remove concrete dust and do your best to control how much it spreads during projects. Small amounts shouldn’t impact your garden soil much, but you’ll want to wipe up as much of it as possible.
However, some gardeners still use concrete dust in their soil when they need to raise its pH. It’s suitable for making it more alkaline and adding some minerals back into the earth. You can use it, but you’ll need to properly test the soil before you try it.
Generally, it’s not awful for soil in a garden setting since you’d be adding controlled amounts of it. That said, other ways to change the soil’s pH are better for your plants. For instance, adding ground eggshells can help. You’ll also reduce some food waste in your kitchen.
Getting small amounts of concrete dust on your plants won’t be very dangerous. The added minerals can possibly help boost your plant’s growth. It’s only when large quantities of dust get into the soil that it can negatively impact it by changing the pH and reducing water drainage.
Concrete planters are prone to cracking. Read my guide to learn how to prevent it from cracking: How to Keep Your Concrete Planters from Cracking
Final Thoughts
Concrete dust won’t kill your plants since it’s not toxic to them. However, it can change the soil’s pH, making it harder for some plants to absorb the necessary nutrients. It’s also effortless to clean the dust off your plants with water. The cement shouldn’t leave any toxins behind.
Overall, you don’t need to panic if you see concrete dust on your plants. You may want to monitor the soil’s pH levels for a little while, but it usually doesn’t cause much harm.
