What would you do

[Howard 50]

Last evening I got a call from a customer telling me that the cleaning solution I used to clean his house is killing his plants. Now I as well as others here have had that happen before so nothing new. Well in this case I washed his home the 23rd of March 25 days ago and he is just now calling me. Since I washed his home we have had freezing temps, warm-ups to the 70's 3/4 inches of heavy snow/rain and just this past weekend a noreaster that carried 60kt winds with over 3 to 6 inches of rain. Now he calls and says the plants around the house are dieing, but everything else in other parts of the yard are alright. I will be going to take a look at the plants in question but my thoughts are I had nothing to do with his plants dieing. Now for my cleaning mix, I've posted the receipt on here before but here it is again.

1.5 gal 12%

2 gal crita clean (from Sunbrite)

1/2 cup cascade

3/4 cup liquid tide (foaming)

1 cup jomax

1 cup liquid deck cleaner.

fill 5 gal container with warm water then downstream.

Thanks for giving me your thoughts.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

What kind of plants are they? That would be my first question...

Bulbs?

Annuals?

Some plants remain dormant for a while, others emerge early then are done...Get pics, and also see if you can get the owner to tell you what they are.

Beth

[Adrian 155]

core sample is a solution, but costly , but could prove you innocent.

Lawn care people may have put fertilizer down after you cleaned and a reaction with them fert and your chems may have taken place.

generally if you don't see any changes during the time you are onsite and you are rinsing properly there will be no change at all in the foliage.

chances are though, it is a combo of the weather, and the recovery from the chems. Hard to say, but there seems to be too many variables to pin it on just one reason. Therefore to say the chems were entirely at fault would be incorrect.

I love my Fender Stratosmasher!!!!!

[Mike Williamson 198]

Last evening I got a call from a customer telling me that the cleaning solution I used to clean his house is killing his plants. Now I as well as others here have had that happen before so nothing new. Well in this case I washed his home the 23rd of March 25 days ago and he is just now calling me. Since I washed his home we have had freezing temps, warm-ups to the 70's 3/4 inches of heavy snow/rain and just this past weekend a noreaster that carried 60kt winds with over 3 to 6 inches of rain. Now he calls and says the plants around the house are dieing, but everything else in other parts of the yard are alright. I will be going to take a look at the plants in question but my thoughts are I had nothing to do with his plants dieing. Now for my cleaning mix, I've posted the receipt on here before but here it is again.

1.5 gal 12%

2 gal crita clean (from Sunbrite)

1/2 cup cascade

3/4 cup liquid tide (foaming)

1 cup jomax

1 cup liquid deck cleaner.

fill 5 gal container with warm water then downstream.

Thanks for giving me your thoughts.

Option 1,2, or 3 works for me.

No way that mix downstreamed killed anything, especially if you rinsed.

What in the world are you trying to remove from houses up there that you have a mix like that? What is the "liquid deck cleaner" for, and what's in it?

Is this a combination you've been using for a while?

[John Orr 206]

I absolutely agree with Mike. No way you are at fault - not almost a month later. Talk to any landscaper, many plants/shrubs/trees have been stressed this "spring" and are suffering. Find out what died, then talk to a landscaper or garden center. EDIT Actually, I would "arm" myself with this info before I meet with customer. If you can tell him that everyone else is having the same problem - you're off the hook.

As to your mix, I find your combination of chems curious. If it works, great, but you could probably leave out everything but the Jomax (use a liquid rinse aid instead of the Cascade - one or two healthy squirts in 5 gal) and have great results.

By the way, remember where your chems are applied - on the house and they run down to the foundation. Unless you sprayed his plants too, no way they were ever touched. Worst case, a delicate flower may wilt, but I have never had one die from my mix - and I've been downstreaming for over 7 years.

Now the tricky part - what to do now. How badly do you want to keep this customer? Even if every house on his block has dead and dying plants in their yards, you may want to at least offer an olive branch. You could offer to: refund some portion of what he paid; buy him some new plants; labor to help pull and re-plant; kill some more to "even-out" his yard - just kidding.