Go BottomBlueberries over septic lines
 | sloancon
Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 16 North Carolina 
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2006-02-06 124146
In the process of clearing septic field for new house and this area would be perfect for my blueberries but don't know about eating blueberries grown over septic tank lines?
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 | SG8NUC
Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 579 g 
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2006-02-06 124153
This is something I found on the web hope it helps. I guess that blueberries have something in common with vegetables. Sometimes the ideal place to put a vegetable garden seems to be over the leach field, raising the question of bacterial and viral contamination from the effluent. Soils vary a great deal in their ability to filter viruses and bacteria. Clay soils work best, eliminating bacteria within a few inches of the drain trenches, but sandy soils may allow bacterial movement for several feet. A properly operating system will not contaminate the soil with disease-causing organisms, but it is very difficult to determine if a field is operating just as it should. If at all possible, use your septic drain field for ornamentals and plant your vegetables elsewhere. If you must plant vegetables, take the following precautions. Do not plant root crops over drain lines. Leafy vegetables could be contaminated by rain splashing soil onto the plant, so either mulch them to eliminate splashing or don't grow them. Fruiting crops are probably safe; train any vining ones such as cucumbers or tomatoes onto a support so that the fruit is off the ground. Thoroughly wash any produce from the garden before eating it. Do not construct raised beds over the field; they might inhibit evaporation of moisture. ....
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| SG8NUC
Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 579 g
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2006-02-06 124154
Also, Salt levels are likely to be high no matter what the pH is, so plan to use salt-tolerant plants. Some plants that are both salt and moisture tolerant include hollyhock, bee balm, violet, arborvitae, redosier dogwood, inkberry holly, and blueberry. If your field is well-drained, you might try including yarrow, columbine, chrysanthemum, delphinium, daylily, peony, clematis, wisteria, and rose. Use of fertilizer may be cut down for plants growing over a leach field because many of the salts are forms of N-P-K nutrients.
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