Ciao Friends, I don't know if this is a crazy question, but I must ask as I am wondering? I had a beautiful Oleandra specimen, grew beautifully (Oleander). I have a friend who is marveled and amazed with the Oleandra and after she asked soo many times, I finally gave her my oleandra, which was in pot.  I didn't give her whole pot as it is decorative, just gave to her with roots only. The pot is very large and full of very good soil, but I wonder, I don't want to waste the soil the Oleandra was in, would I be able to use this soil to grow Figs or other fruit trees?? will some of the poison from the Oleandra plant itself be in the soil and could that cause any fruit that is grown in this soil to be contaminated or poisonous?? or should I discard the soil or else use for some other non fruit (edible) plant??  Thanks for any responses, Ciao!

Call me crazy but i would not use it on edibles to be save Maggie.
Recently i repotted my real sick ischia ( FMV) and just to be safe i bagged the soil and discarded it.

Just today i was mixing sme soil repotting some fig trees then i had to move some plants in garage and grabbed the Oleander trunk without gloves and brought in garage as we are expecting 40mph plus winds and storms thruout weekend.
Why i grab plant like this well i took my gloves off to have a smoke and .........  ; )

No big deal its not the first time and not the last.


Do you need another Oleander to replace yours ?

Maggie,
Here is an article I found from the state of CA about oleander and its effects in compost/soil, etc.   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12882497

I am from CA originally and I think it is one of the prettiest plants, but it is so deadly I think they should be banned from all sales in the US.  My mother was working in the ER in CA when they brought in a large group of people, on stretchers, unresponsive.  Turns out it was a group of Marines who started a fire on the beach, and needed green sticks to roast hot dogs with their family...8 people (entire party) died.  We had a friend who started a brush fire here in KY, had oleander trimmings in burn barrel...the smoke killed him.  Turns out they had no idea the oleander was toxic.  My Mom once watched a man break a twig off and chew on it while he was in garden center here in KY. She told him what he had in his mouth, they took him immediately to the hospital and he survived... after going into cardiac arrest.  His family has since moved out of the area and she does not hear from them any longer.   But it was nice of you to give your oleander to your friend.

Wow!  That happened to the person just inhaling the smoke from the Oleander fire?  That's some bad poison--Alkaloid and no antidote for it.

noss

Well, after seeing what's happened to people who've inhaled fumes from burn piles with poison ivy in them, death may be a good alternative.

I guess what works for weed works for all.

Not that I burn any plant matter for disposal, I'm pretty sure its illegal in here, but I am curious what happens if you breath smoke from poison ivy and are there any other common plants or trees that may end up in a fire that are bad?

I don't know about other plants, but poison oak, poison sumac and poison ivy are all a big no-no in fires.

The thing that screws you up with those, the poisonous substance, is an oil.  Heat that up really hot, and it can be carried out in air, on ash, vaporized.  You inhale it, you now have the same poison oil in your lungs that causes the (pretty gnarly) rashes on your body, even after washing it off - only, you can't wash off your lungs....

I assume it would irritate your windpipe and lungs, possibly causing mucous to form as protection.

Mamma mia!

George and anyone else i dont recall bugs on my plant except the occasional curious bee.
when i was given the plant from italian friend who brought cuttings from Italy and rooted them he stated these are much fragrant compared to the ones in this country.
It has a wonderful perfume smell , i walk up to the open flowers when in bloom each and everyday to smell them.

Not afraid at all of my Oleander
but then again i walked over 600 volts DC third rail in train yard for almost 30 years and even met it face to face several times when i tripped stepping over it.
Even got slapped in the back of the neck when i felt tingling sensation running up my leg and before i realized what was happening it hit my wet collar on my  neck.  - long story  
A co-worker who on the am shift that we just had conversation with in shanty went out on a move and not 5 minutes later we hear a boom and we all ran out the door and saw puff of smoke and ran over there and saw his reamins and the burn marks it left.

Am i afraid of my poisonous plant, that makes me laugh.
It would also make me dead if i was dumb enough to eat the leaves.

Know what you grow is the bottom line,

It reminds me of posts that i read sometimes on the other forum when one buys a fig plant in a cold area but has no place to store it nor the slightest knowledge of what they even purchased.

FYI...it was not the smoke from the fire, it was the green sticks...they were using oleander branches for their food, and eating the food off the branches.  Oleander grows like wildfire by the beach.  Now they have signs posted, but back in the day there were none.  Have seen several oleander plants here in KY, and not one warning sign on the hang tag...that I find bothersome.   I agree...know what you grow and if you are not familiar with a plant/tree/shrub do not use it in your fire or as a food source or even food holder.