Can Household Bleach Harm a Pine Tree?

Whether you’re cleaning moss off a roof or power-washing your sidewalk, then bleach is a anti-microbial pesticide and fungicide that cleans and disinfects hard surfaces. While diluted bleach solutions, like a 1-to-10-parts bleach and water mixture, are not as likely to harm a pine tree (Pinus spp.) , bleach can damage the tree’s needles or even rinsed off with lots of fresh water.

The Effects of Chlorine Bleach

Chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is corrosive at 100-percent strength. When used at a solution of equal parts water and bleach, as is recommended when cleaning a roof, then the remedy will burn the foliage of trees and plants within 10 minutes.

Preventing Damage to Trees and Plants

To protect a pine tree, like a Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 10water thoroughly and wash the foliage with plain water prior to using the bleach solution on the roof or sidewalk. Rinse the fibers and the plant within 10 minutes of exposure of the pine tree , completely soaking the foliage, bark and dirt.

What Happens to the Bleach?

The chlorine in bleach disappears. Until the chlorine has evaporated diluting the bleach with considerable amounts of water, its effects minimized. Any remaining bleach solution in the soil rapidly breaks down into saltwater.

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