Draining duck pool into veg garden...good idea?

[KeyLimePie]

My ducks have a big plastic kiddy pool to swim in. I siphon it out every 2-3 days. In order to keep the ground around the pool drier & cleaner I siphon it out with a hose that drains 50 feet away.

I just planted the veg garden and thought it would be a good idea to have the duck water drain out there. I buried some pieces of plastic drain pipe (the kind with drain holes along the bottom & sides every few inches) down the middle of the veg garden at a slight angle, and can place the ends of the siphon hoses at one end. Then the dirty duck water can pour down the drain hoses & seep out the holes along its length.

But now I am having doubts as to the wisdom of this plan. Could there be harmful bacteria in the freshly duck-pooped pool water that could get into the vegs and make us ill when we eat them? I'm thinking of the tainted spinach that was sold commercially that made some folks sick.

I use a lot of horse manure in the garden, but it is stored in black plastic bags for several months or more before use, so it's broken down by then.

If the dirty duck water is indeed good for the garden & safe for vegs we consume, I will continue with this plan. Otherwise, I'll just water the garden with the sprinkler (well water) and drain the duck pool into one of the flower garden beds.

By the way, I start the siphon by placing one end of a hose (usually a reclaimed hose from someone's discard pile) into the duck pool & set the other end somewhere that is at least a few inches lower than the bottom of the pool. Then I take another hose that's connected to a faucet and force water into the pool end of the siphon hose. I hold them under the surface of the water as I do until I feel the suction from the siphon hose. Then I place the siphon hose at the bottom of the pool & it continues to drain its contents.

 

[vfem]

I did this last year, and I had Tomatoes that were biggers then trees! It was amazing!

Ducks are amazing for having such good 'stuff' once its watered down... so those pools are loaded with what your garden needs. I think Wifezilla calls it Duck Poo Tea.

 

[patandchickens]

Yes, there will be bacteria in the duck water that you don't want to be consuming and can make you sick.

However, that does not necessarily mean you mustn't put it on your garden (although it depends on your personal preferences). If it is going directly onto the ground in a nonsplashy way, and you are thoroughly washing your produce before eating it (esp. if raw), and feel OK with it, I do not personally think it is unreasonable. OTOH if you would apply it splashily, can't count on a *thorough* washing, or are generally kind of ooogy about food poisoning type things, then, don't if you don't want to

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[wifezilla]

My duck water fertilized garden didn't poison me last year I didn't use it on leafy stuff...well except the basil. But that was watered from the bottom up. Nothing on the leaves.

 

[obsessed]

Plants love some duck poopy water.

 

[vfem]

Yeah, I pretty much just watered at the base of everything....

My trees and tomatoes did the best from it! I bet corn could really benefit too!

 

[KeyLimePie]

*phew* Thank you all for the imput. The way I've arranged it the duck water will all be going directly underground through the drainage pipes I've installed. The only root vegetable I'm growing is onions, do you think those will be safe to eat since I'll peel & discard the skin & outer layer? Everything else has its edible parts above ground.

 

[ducks4you]

, KeylLimePie!
You know, we all eat a peck of dirt in our lifetimes, and that includes acceptable animal manure, like YOUR ducks and MY horses!

 

[lupinfarm]

I used duck pool water all last year on my vegetables. My tomatoes were almost as big as me! I planted them in April too, so everyone who came by to buy eggs was shocked to see they were like 5ft tall!

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i've used my pond water in my garden when i've cleaned it out during the spring. and when i've cleaned out the filters i wash them into a bucket to later pour into the rows between my vegies. that way it helped to indirectly fertilize the plants without burning. i don't have ducks but i had fish in my ponds so it doesn't hurt to use it that way as long as it doesn't splash up on the veggies themselves.

i don't think i see any issues with the onions either, if you are pealing the skins and washing them off.