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Organic Gardening

Rosin paper for weed control?

14 years ago

I bought a roll of paper mulch at Lowes to try this year in my veg garden. It ended up being a little pricier than I thought it would be. After I rolled it out, it looked a lot like rosin paper(used under wood flooring and much cheaper).

Does anyone know what's in rosin paper? Would it be safe to use near edible plants? I did a few searches with no luck.

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Michael Paparella

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

I was researching this too and found this wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_rosin_paper

Quote - "Rosin paper may have a polyurethane coating to improve moisture resistance and tearing. It is not acid free particularly containing abietic acid"

Don't use it in your vegetable garden!

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Comments (9)

hatchjon
14 years ago
I think this stuff is safe. On the material data sheet for this product the warning for INGESTION is:

INGESTION: This product has a low degree of toxicity. If symptoms of gastrointestinal irritation develop, seek medical attention.

This entry makes it seem benign.

Here is a link that might be useful: MDS
Kimmsr
14 years ago
It simply astounds me that with all the free paper available someone would pay for some paper to use in the garden. Rosin paper is made from recycled fiber for use as roofing or flooring underlayment and should not have anything that would adversly affect your soil except maybe the red dye that was used to evenly color those fibers.
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Hi Dicot, Thanks for the info. I felt that I could use pretty much any paper excpet the ones you memtion. I will probaly go to home depot and look at the paper they use for painting a room, paper that keeps things clean. i have used straight mulch before but the weeds always come though it. I know the paper will buy me a year or 2. Dicot I am up in the hills above Palmdale, I grow lilac if ur ever in the neiborhood. I saw that ur in torrance. Take care and any other help would be great. Buck
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
The above MSDS sheet is only useful when one regards the NORMAL USE of rosin paper. Using it as a mulch in the veggie garden is anything but normal.

I can't find anything on the ingredients of rosin paper or how it would be expected to behave when exposed to constant moisture. Anybody else have any luck?
swanz
13 years ago
I think Rosin paper was repells water and humidity and the garden stuff is supposed to allow moisture to enter.
mrhouse
7 years ago
yes, you should be fine with this kind of paper
Ben Mccargo
2 years ago
Appreciate the in depth skinny. Found a used roll in shed, thought it might. Rosin but scared me. Glad I checked.
Reviewer d
10 days ago
last modified: 10 days ago
Red Rosin paper has ALUM in it, which contains ALUMINUM. Aluminum toxicity in plants is very well documented. Don't put Red Rosin paper in your garden or yard unless you want to kill everything that is under it, and everything that is may use the water contaminated by the paper. It may also affect living things and insects in the soil . Why use building materials in your garden?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
10 days ago
" Red Rosin paper has ALUM in it, which contains ALUMINUM. Aluminum toxicity in plants is very well documented. Don't put Red Rosin paper in your garden or yard unless you want to kill everything that is under it, and everything that is may use the water contaminated by the paper "

Well, that's more than a bit overstated!! ALUM does not directly translate to ALUMINUM - there are alums that contain other chemical compounds, specifically potassium alum, which is used extensively as a mordant or fixative with dyeing and is referred to as papermaker's alum. This is the alum used with red rosin paper.

btw, aluminum toxicity with plants is very case sensitive. Some plants are sensitive and will react adversely and others are unaffected. But the paper will not "kill everything under it". In fact, there is so little alum/aluminum involved that it is not a serious concern...or any concern at all. FWIW. aluminum sulfate is a common soil amendment.........

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