I've noticed in the past that when I repeatedly poured a "green" enviornmentally freindly dish detergent mixed with water over my deck railing, that the patch of plants underneath absolutely took off. No, pests to speak of, the plants tripled (at least) in size, and the leaves on every plant were thick and healthy. Any thoughts on why this is? I know a light detergent and water mix keeps pests away, but I didn't know it promoted startling growth?
I am not sure how safe the dish detergent is on the microbial life in the soil but I can tell you what happened and why. Dish detergent is a wetting agent. Wetting agents allow water to spread better so it doesn't bead up (reduces surface tension). This in turn aids the plant in absorbing more nutrients. Yucca and aloe vera would be my preferred wetting agents (preservative free or mild preservatives only). Alfalfa I think has quite a bit of saponins also. Any clue what brand you used or what it was made of?
Was a couple summers back but I'm pretty sure it was just some knock off brand dish detergent like Best Value or something along those lines. But I do remember it being Eco-Friendly "Green"